Irons Monroe
by waiting-to-bloom
Summary: Gohan is searching for purpose after the defeat of Cell, Irons is willing to give it to him, but only if it is on his terms. Will Gohan accept his strange offer? TUNE IN NEXT TIME FOR DRAGONBALL Z! or just click to read. End of the world stuff will ensue!
1. New Life Old Beginnings

Irons Monroe

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by waiting-to-bloom

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CHAPTER ONE: New life. Old beginnings.

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_The light was blinding. The massive blue orb ripped through the earth like it was paper. Gohan screamed, his yells tearing at his already sore throat, one arm hanging useless and mangled at his side, the other outstretched, fingertips clenched and pushing more and more energy into the blast. _

_He could hear over the rush of wind and turmoil, Cell's dying screams as the blast overtook him, disintegrating him until there was nothing. And then, it was over. As abruptly as the whole thing had started. Gohan lowered his arm, letting exhaustion take over his beaten and bruised body. He collapsed to the ground, and felt an immense relief sweep through him. He laughed, short bursts that hurt his abs and made it hard for him to breath, but he couldn't stop because just for that moment, as he drifted on the lines of consciousness, his spirit felt true joy._

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Gohan sat upon the tip of a steep deep red canyon, his feet dangling off the jagged edge. The sun was dipping beneath the horizon, and the sky turned a bright pink. It was so still out, peaceful. Gohan was really beginning to understand why Piccolo preferred this type of atmosphere to all others. He gazed out at the sunset, trying to find a peace of mind to compare to the scenery, but inside his stomach was churning with a familiar unease. It had been almost two weeks since the cell games. Everybody had already gone back to his or her normal routine; Vegeta was once again training relentlessly, Krillin was looking to win 18's heart, and Gohan's mother had insisted that he put fighting on hold so that he could study.

Gohan felt like he was stuck in a limbo. All the initial joy he had experienced after cell was defeated had faded fast. His father was dead, and Gohan was at a lost for purpose. He still wanted to train if at the very least to clear his head, but his mother was quiet insistent on him only studying hard and he couldn't say no. Letting out a sigh, he dug his fingers into the earth. It may sound insane, but he was beginning to wish he had another bad guy to fight, at least then he would have a visible goal. A purpose for his misguided life. With another villain, maybe his father would see that it didn't matter if he was here or not, that the bad guys still come, and he would come back, and they would be a family again, and…He shook his head instantly to dispel these thoughts. Whenever Gohan let himself think that way, it only made him sadder. He had to stay positive, at the very least for the sake of his mother. He eyes sought solace in the pink sunset as he forced himself to concentrate only on the breeze shaking his black hair.

"You are Gohan. Correct?"

Gohan nearly jumped out of his skin. He stood up and turned quickly; surprised that someone had managed to sneak up on him. No one snuck up on him. Ever. Upon seeing the stranger, his eyes narrowed slightly in mistrust. The man before him stood tall and rail thin. He was wearing a coal black suit, cleanly pressed, with his hands deep in his pockets. His black hair was graying just speckled throughout and his blue eyes were a pale icy blue, that stared unblinkingly straight at Gohan. He smirked down at the small boy and tilted his long neck to one side, looking most misplaced among the rock and mountains in his black suit and well-polished shoes.

"Who are you?" Gohan asked, his hands already tense at his sides. There was something, strange about his presence, and odd aurora of unfamiliarity seemed to pulse out around him, and because of this Gohan stood on his guard.

"Call me Irons." The man said shortly smiling his crooked smile again, "consider me a friend."

Gohan continued to gaze at him, waiting for more explanation.

"But who I am is not very important," the man, Irons, said taking a step closer to Gohan. "What we really should talk about is you."

Gohan subconsciously took a step back to distance himself. He didn't like this man Irons, not one bit.

"Me?" Gohan asked looking suspicious. He shook his head. "There is nothing to talk about."

Irons shrugged, his dull blue eyes full of mirth. "Come now, Gohan, don't be so modest. I know about you and your power. I've known for a long time."

Gohan's pulse quickened at this, and he took another step back only to find that his heels were off the cliff's edge. He couldn't deal with this, not right now. "Please," he said as evenly as he could, knowing that he was sounding childish, "leave me alone." His eyes narrowed to slits. "I don't know what you want, but I am pretty certain that I am not interested."

Before Irons could reply, Gohan took a final step back, plunging off the cliffs edge. Irons ran to the edge and watched as Gohan plummeted several feet off the cliffs edge, his navy shirt fanning out in the wind, and then at the last possible second, he scooped back up into the air sped off at amazing speed. Irons spindly right hand slid out of his pocket and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He laughed quietly. Then there was a pop, and he vanished.

Gohan stopped at the edge of a stream; he landed so hard his feet sunk into the earth. "Who was that guy?" he questioned himself, staring hard at the flowing stream. "And how did he know so much about me?"

Gohan walked, following the babbling stream as it twisted and bended, his thoughts now on this mysterious stranger named Irons. The day was quickly disappearing. He knew that his mother would be furious if he wasn't home before sundown. And so slowly, reluctantly, he flew up into the air and shot off towards home.

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"Gohan, where are you?" ChiChi mumbled to herself and she wiped the edge of the plate with her apron her eyes fixed on the darkening sky outside her window. "If you're not back before dark, young man." She muttered to no one in particular. Suddenly the door creaked open.

"Mom, I'm home!"

"Gohan!" She yelled rushing out of the kitchen to hug her son. "I was starting to worry!"

"Awe, mom," Gohan mumbled looking embarrassed. "I already told you don't have to worry so much about me."

ChiChi sighed and let go of her son. "I know, I just feel better when you are around." Her hands settled on her hips, "So that means you better come home on time from now on, young man!"

"Alright, alright!" Gohan smiled, while shaking his head and trying to dodge her incoming wrath.

"And I want you to work on you studies before you go to bed!" she called after him as he made his way to his room.

"Okay mom!" Gohan shut the door to his room and slumped down at his desk. Before starting, he took a moment to clear his thoughts, forcing Irons to become a distant memory. If the time came he would face Irons, but for now he didn't want to think about the strange man. He let out a heavy sigh. "Alright, here I go."

He cracked open the first textbook, and started to read. Gohan worked diligently reading through his biology chapters and then working through some calculus problems. The time passed slowly, and as it got later, he could feel his concentration slipping. Every now and then, his eyes would droop and he would jerk awake after seeing pale blue eyes beneath his eyes lids. It was completely black outside, and the only light in Gohan's room was his desk lamp. There was no clock, so he wasn't certain of the time. Suppressing a yawn, he turned the next page and readjusted his sitting position. The sentence Gohan was reading began to swirl together as if it was ink dropped in water. He rubbed his eyes, and focused on it again, the text cleared and he read down to the end of the page. He wasn't sure if recalled anything he just read, he looked back up at the top again to read the section heading and his head lolled to one side, eyes half open. _Section 14.3…_Gohan's fingers numbly dropped his pencil, and he could feel a blanket of darkness spread over him. His eyes shut heavily.

A great ravine spread out before him, it seemed endless in either direction stretching across the strange black landscape as far as the eye could see, slitting the world in two. The sky above him swirled purple and dark blue. Orange clouds soared quickly by, churning and spinning and constantly changing their shape as they streaked across the dark sky. Gohan eyes went wide as he took in the scene, but he was sure it must be a dream. He took a step closer to the ravine, glancing down over the edge. He could not identify a bottom, only a swirling white mist that echoed soft whispering voices. He wondered idly if he could die in his own dream, but quickly dismissed the thought. Curious to see if there was even a bottom to the ravine, Gohan took flight, and steadily lowered himself down into the black crevasse.

When the white mist hit him, it felt like he was flying through a cloud. He was immediately drenched, and the whispers he heard earlier echoed even more loudly in his ear. He tried to identify them, to figure out what the voices were saying, but even though their sounds seemed to kiss he ear, he could not understand their words. He continued on, flying in what he hoped was down, for it was hard to tell now, with the white mist surrounding him, so that all he could see was a bleak swirling fog. It reminded him of the time chamber, where he and his father had spent a year training in preparation for the cell games, and how its white landscape seemed to have no top or bottom.

It may have been hours or only a few minutes, but eventually the whispers died down and Gohan, shivering from the cold wet mist, popped out of the fog. He expected to find a bottom of cold hard rock, but instead he emerged out into a sky. An extraordinary clear blue, more beautiful than the blue skies on a cloudless winter morning. Gohan shook himself of the water he was drenched in and turned around to look at the mist from which he came, but all it appeared to be was a giant white cloud.

Unsure of where to go now, Gohan floated aimlessly. Straining his eyes to find something of interest, but like the ravine, the sky stretched on endlessly in every direction. He considered flying back through the cloud, but was not too eager to struggle through that labyrinth of white fog. Suddenly, he heard the sharp sound of the flapping of wings, the noise surprised him because he realized, with sudden clarity, that apart from the voices he hadn't heard a single sound. He looked below him and caught a glimpse of a giant bird. It was massive, its wingspan stretching at least twelve feet. With three great beats of its enormous black wings it leveled itself with Gohan. Gohan felt himself at a strange calm as he looked at this great bird, which was now only inches away from his nose. And suddenly the bird looked straight at him, and Gohan noticed for the first time that its eyes were a pale foggy blue. The bird opened its black beak, and---

"Gohan. Gohan its time to wake up."

"Whaa?" Gohan groaned, blearily opening his eyes. The sun was bright, and he looked down at himself shocked that he had fallen asleep at his desk with his head on his calculus book and desk lamp still on.

His mother shook his shoulder again. "Come on now Gohan. Did my young scholar fall asleep studying last night?" she smiled at the thought.

Gohan stretched his arms over his head. "Yeah," he said, smiling too. "I had the strangest dream," he added, but just as he said this, the sharpness of the dream seemed to fade away from him.

"A dream?" ChiChi asked.

But Gohan didn't answer, he was trying to remember what had happened in his dream, but the harder he thought the quicker it seemed to slip away.

Seeing her son zoning out again, ChiChi let out a loud sigh. "Let's go Gohan," she repeated, sounding a bit sterner, "breakfast won't wait for you."

Gohan jerked out of his seat, and ran his hand through his hair, "Right mom, sorry. I'm awake now."

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Gohan shoveled down his breakfast, appreciatively and gave his thanks to his mom when he had finished. He got up, and headed towards the door when Chichi stopped him, looking stern.

"And just where do you think you're going?" she asked, hands once again settling on her hips.

Gohan shrugged "For a walk?" he said, unconsciously rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh no you don't," she replied.

Gohan closed the door reluctantly and walked back into the kitchen.

"You have an appointment with that nice tutor I'm paying for in a few minutes.

"Mom," Gohan complained, "I'm only eleven. Do I ever get a break? It's Sunday!"

Chichi shook her head and crossed her arms. "I don't know when my son got this slacker attitude, but if you want to become a scholar someday, you are going to have to study every day."

Gohan absently thought that he didn't have much interest in being a scholar. Instead of voicing this, he nodded slowly with a resigned expression on his face. If there was anything he understood about his mother, it was that she was trying to maintain a sense of normalcy. Gohan knew that the absence of his father, Goku, weighed heavily on his mom. Even though she didn't show it, he knew she missed him deeply. Sometimes in the dark of night, when Gohan would jerk awake from another nightmare, he would hear his mother crying in her bedroom next door.

"Alright mom, I'll go get my books together."

"Now, that's better," Chichi approved.

The tutor came knocking on the front door about twenty minutes later, and Chichi was quick to answer.

"This is Son residence, correct?" the tutor asked peering down at a chart he held in his hands. Chichi smiled.

"That's right," she said, inviting the tutor inside. "My son is just in the living room waiting for you."

"Thank you," the tutor replied. He fumbled with his chart as he stepped inside, and made a few check marks on it as he continued towards the living room.

Gohan was already set at the table, his papers and books spread neatly in front of him. The tutor approached him, eyes still on the chart scribbling a few last minute notes.

"Gohan, I presume?" he said, tucking his pen behind his ear before flipping a page and nodding his head.

"Yes," Gohan said and then quickly, he stood up bowing slightly to the tutor. "It's nice to meet you, Mr.—"

"Soplee," the man interjected finally placing his chart on the table and looking down at Gohan. A shocked expression came across as his face, and he adjusted his glasses. "Good grief, Gohan! How old are you?"

"Eleven, sir," Gohan replied, "Is there something wrong?"

"No," and the tutor smiled, motioning Gohan to sit down while he did the same. "I'm just surprised. You are studying some pretty advance subjects for you age."

Gohan again self-consciously rubbed the back of his head, and laughed, "Yeah, well…" he trailed off. Chichi walked up to them looking quite proud.

"My son is going to be a great scholar when he is older," she said confidently, causing Gohan to look even more embarrassed.

"_Mom_," he muttered under his breath, blushing a deep crimson and ducking his head underneath his arms.

Mr. Soplee just grinned. "There is nothing to be ashamed of Gohan," he said eyeing his new pupil, "keep up the pace you are at right now and I have no doubt that you will become what your mother hopes for."

Chichi beamed at the comment, and walked closer to the table. "Mr. Soplee, was it?" she asked brightly.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Would you like some tea, or perhaps lemonade? I just made some fresh this morning."

"Lemonade sounds wonderful thank you," replied Mr. Soplee, sounding grateful.

Chichi nodded then quickly scurried out of the room to the kitchen. Mr. Soplee turned his attention back on Gohan, and once again adjusted his glasses. Gohan shuffled through his papers very conscious that the man was staring at him, finally he turned and looked up.

"Where should we start?" he asked.

"How about calculus?" the tutor supplied as he lifted the textbook from beneath a stack of papers. Gohan shrugged his shoulders and nodded. They had just begun on the first problem, when Chichi had walked in carrying two glasses of lemonade.

Gohan was quick to thank his mother before he gulped down his lemonade with one giant swig. After that, the tutoring session proceeded and remained relatively uneventful. Gohan worked through each of the problems assigned by Mr. Soplee and didn't have any problems. When mid-afternoon finally arrived, Gohan felt wiped, but was pleased that he had managed to cover so much information. Mr. Soplee left with a wave and a smile, and once again, the Son house quieted down.

"He seemed nice, didn't he?" asked Chichi as she walked into the living room with a basket of laundry.

Gohan nodded, but remained silent. He felt stupid, but he couldn't help the wave of sadness that swept through him as he sat idly at the living room table. It was at moments like these when the house was exceptionally quiet and he nothing else on his mind, that his father's absence burned hardest. For something to do, he restacked the already stacked papers and packed them away in a folder while his mom folded the laundry. It was quiet for a little longer, and then just when Gohan went to put his things away in his room, he caught sight of his mother. Her eyes were misty, staring blankly out the front window, and a towel sitting unfolded her lap. Gohan stopped what he was doing all together, and moved gently to her side. She jumped a little in surprise when he sat by her, but still offered him a small smile through teary eyes.

"Mom?" Gohan said quietly wrapping his arms around her in a hug.

She returned his hug and lightly ran her fingers through his hair. "Hmm? What is it sweetie?"

"I love you. You know that right?"

"Of course, dear," Chichi said lovingly. "I love you too."

And they sat like that for a long time, silent tears stinging both of their eyes as they remembered a husband and a father.

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When the bright sun streaked through Gohan's bedroom window, he awoke slowly, stretching out his arms in a weary manner. The house was still quiet, the usual bustling noise in the kitchen absent. He must have woken up pretty early to have been up before his mother. Quietly, he peered in through the crack of the door to his mother's bedroom to find that she was still curled up in her bed, her comforter kicked off sometime in the night, and the white sheets tangled around her legs. Gohan shut the door without a noise, then walked outside, taking in the crisp morning air through his nose.

Suddenly he shot off in a huge _whoosh _sixty, seventy, eighty feet into the air. He flew to the big lake where he and his father used to catch prehistoric sized fish. His feet landed gingerly down on the grass still damp from dew.

"That was rude of you, you know."

Gohan flinched. He swore he had seen no one when he had landed, but somehow that man still managed to surprise him. Calmly he replied, "I thought I told you to leave me alone." He turned around to face Irons. "And stop sneaking up on me."

Irons smiled. "My deepest apologies, Gohan, but we never got the chance to finish our conversation."

"Didn't I tell you I wasn't interested?" Gohan questioned growing annoyed.

"You did. But you misunderstand." Irons weaved his long fingers in front of his suit and raised his eyebrows, inviting Gohan to question him.

Gohan's back grew rigid. "Did I now?"

Irons' smile deepened. "Yes, because I can tell you Gohan, you are very interested." His hands fell back into his pockets as he shifted his weight forward. "I know your type of person. You need a purpose, a chance to make a difference, help mankind, that type of thing." The breeze pushed back is speckled black hair. "I can offer you that."

"What are you saying?" Gohan said, though the edge in his voice was gone. He was looking at Iron's in a different way. There was so much that was odd about him. The way he could sneak up on Gohan, that was unnatural, and even now, as Gohan stared down at those pale eyes, he felt no energy source coming from the tall man, only an empty hole where he stood. Could he be trusted?

Irons noticed Gohan's skepticism and sighed. "I see you are still wary of me. It's alright, I understand. But you have nothing to fear from me, Gohan, you are far stronger than I."

Gohan's fists loosened.

"Who are you?"

"I think that will be my first rule," Iron's replied.

"What rule? What are you talking about?"

Irons' shoulders shrugged. "No questions. That's my rule."

Gohan stumbled. "I'm afraid, I don't know what you are talking ab-?"

Irons' thin hand extended forward, offering a handshake. "I want you to be my bodyguard."

"Your-"

"My bodyguard," Irons repeated firmly, his hand still extended.

Gohan looked confusedly from Irons' hand to his face. "Is this a joke? I'm supposed to save the world by guarding you?"

Irons head tilted. "Yes."

Gohan relaxed, this could not be serious. Clearly, this man was insane. "Right. Well, I think I'll be going now." He braced himself to take flight, when Irons stopped him.

"Had any strange dreams lately?" Irons pale blue eyes were staring unblinking at Gohan, arm still outstretched.

Gohan stared back. "I'm leaving." This time he took off before another word could be said.

He flew faster than he had in a long time. The wind thundered past him, whipping his hair out of his eyes. For a few minutes he kept this pace, until he gradually slowed down. Gohan spent a long time in the air, trying to make sense of what had just happened, but it was just a jumble of information. He had no idea who Irons was or what he wanted. For a moment, he had found himself nearly believing that Irons had a plan for him. He knew he was desperate for purpose, but he had no idea how willing he was to believe just about anything that was thrown at him. What made Irons think he was so important that he needed protection? Gohan looked down at the swirling landscape bellow zooming under him as flew by. More importantly, did the world really need saving?

A shriek ripped through his thoughts. Immediately Gohan screeched to a stop, wary eyes looking below. He had been flying over a city, high enough that anyone who had seen him would think he was only a bird in the sky. Squinting, he saw hardly any life in the streets, considering the early hour. Just when he was about to move on, dismissing the noise for his imagination, he saw a women near the blackened edge of the streets, her arms held up in fright, a gun pointing at her head. Pulse hammering, Gohan sped towards them. In seconds, he was down, cautiously landing just out of sight in an intersecting alleyway.

"Please, please," the women was murmuring. The street light was catching only half of her terrified face, but from Gohan's hiding spot he could make out every wrinkle. "That's all the money I have."

The gunman's hand was shaking, but Gohan doubted that even he noticed. The women's purse, clutched tight in his other hand, fell to the ground. "Five dollars? That's all!? Five…" His sweaty fingers were squeezing the trigger.

_Okay that's enough of that_, Gohan thought quickly. To him, the movement of the bullet was hardly anything. He leapt out of the alleyway just as the gun was fired. A cloud of smoke followed, the women clenched her eyes, and Gohan plucked the bullet out of the air half way before it reached its target. In a strange arc of silence following the gunshot, both the man and women blinked, surprised to find a young boy standing between them.

"Wha?" the gunman accused, looking at Gohan at then at his gun. "Where did you come from?"

Gohan swiftly pocketed the bullet, then turned to the women. "Are you alright ma'am?"

Her eyes were welling with tears, but she managed a nod, starring at Gohan like he was some sort of guardian angel.

"Hey! Hey! Didn't you hear me?! I don't know what you're thinking kid, but you're lucky my gun jammed, or else you be dead!"

"Go home," Gohan said quietly.

The man's eyes bulged, his face turning several shades redder. "I think you've forgotten who's got the gun here," he sneered. "I say you leave, or I put a bullet in your head! Don't think I won't just because you're a kid!"

Sighing, Gohan turned to face the man head on, staring straight down the barrel of his gun. "I said, go home."

The man looked taken aback, but quickly recovered. This time, his gun was held steady. "I warned you!"

His fingers squeezed air. Gohan bounced the gun on his palm before squashing it into a ball of useless metal. Terrified, the man stumbled backward. "What are you?" he stuttered. He spun away, tripping over his feet as he rushed down the empty street.

Gohan tossed the metal to his side.

"I've never…in my life…"

Gohan looked back at the women, noticing her pale and shaken complexion. Worried that he scared her, he smiled a little. "It's okay," he said.

"How did? What was? I don- But your just a little boy!" she stammered.

Gohan smiled a little more convincingly. "I'm sorry if I scared you. " He rubbed the back of his head. "But your safe now. I'm sure that man won't bother you again."

She nodded slightly, still gazing at Gohan in awe.

"Do you need me to walk you home?"

That seemed to jolt her out of her daze. Clumsily, she shook her head. "No, no, that's alright. I'm fine now, really." She laughed nervously. "It's just, well, that was amazing. Truly, absolutely, incredible."

Gohan picked up her purse from the ground and handed it to her. She accepted it, thanking him, then turned to leave. In mid turn she stopped, and doubled back to face him, "My name is Grace."

She waited.

"Gohan."

Grace smiled, her face brightening. "Thank you, Gohan." With that she walked away. Gohan watched her go, feeling a warm feeling filling his gut. Glancing both ways to make sure no one was watching, he shot back up to the sky and turned back home.

Gohan landed outside of his home, with the sun now high in the sky, surprised that his mom wasn't already storming out asking him where he had been. Maybe she was still sleeping? Quietly he opened the front door, in case his mother was still sleeping and stepped inside. The sight that greeted him, made his heart nearly leap out of his chest in fright. There sitting at the kitchen table with his mom was Irons himself, smiling in that annoying way. His mom was laughing about something.

"Mom? What is this?" Gohan demanded, trying to keep his voice calm.

Chichi looked up, surprised. "Oh Gohan! Where were you!?" She got to her feet, then brushed her head looking embarrassed before gesturing to the seated Irons. "Mr. Soplee couldn't make it today so he had his friend fill in for him. This is Mr. Monroe."

Irons looked up at Gohan, smirking. "Hello Gohan, nice to meet you."

"What happened to Mr. Soplee?" Gohan asked suspiciously as he edged his way into the kitchen.

Irons got up from his seat smoothly and gently ran his fingers down his suit to straighten the wrinkles. "Came down with a terrible case of the flu. But don't worry, he should recover quickly."

"Mr. Monroe here was just telling me some of the subjects he has studied," Chichi stepped in. "It's all very interesting. You'll learn a lot from him, Gohan."

Gohan glared. "Aren't you a little early?"

"Gohan!" Chichi admonished, but Gohan ignored her. His eyes still narrowed at his so called tutor.

"I believe in punctuality, practicality, and getting the head start," Iron's replied lightly. "The early bird gets the worm."

"So, what, am I the worm?"

"Gohan!!You can't ---!" Chichi began.

But Irons was laughing, shaking his head good-naturedly and Chichi immediately calmed down. "Now that's good Gohan. I'm not even sure you realize how good that was."

Still chuckling he sat back down, sweeping his hand out to invite Gohan to sit with him at the table. Under Chichi's death glare, Gohan complied. Irons cracked open one of Gohan's books. Gohan looked down, noticing that Irons had opened his biology book to the section about evolutionary genetics.

"All of this is so very fascinating!" Irons claimed after a few moments of silent reading. He looked up at Gohan smiling.

Gohan glared in return. "What are you talking about?" he hissed in a whisper, out of the corner of his eye watching his mother finally exit the room. "Aren't you supposed to be tutoring me? Shouldn't you know this by now?"

Irons tusked. "So many questions." He turned back to the book, leaning over the text and absorbing it like it was some kind of epic fantasy reaching its climax. He snickered once towards the end of the paragraph.

"It's amazing what you humans will come up with to explain controlled phenomenon."

Gohan blanched at Irons. "The theory of evolution has long been accepted by most of the science world. What are you trying to say?"

Iron's shut the book, a trace of a smile still on his lips. He leaned back, folding his hands on his lap.

"I'm talking about gods of course."

Gohan stared. The possibility of gods existing Gohan did believe in. How could he not? He had heard his father's voice through the veil of death. He knew of the Kai's and also of Kami, the Guardian of Earth. He had seen incredible things. He had been to an alien planet, knew of the spirit world, he'd even spoken with the great dragon who had resurrected everyone who had died in the cell games. These type of things, all this existence and life, Gohan was sure there had to be someone behind it. Someone with greater authority than Kami, and even greater authority than the Kai's. A creator. Someone beyond the veil.

He looked suspiciously at Irons. There was no way Irons was any of these things. He tried a different approach.

"The creation of life you mean?"

Irons' head titled. "What's that, Gohan?"

Gohan shuffled his papers, trying to be careful with his words. "The controlled phenomenon you talked about, you mean you think that creation was a controlled work." Gohan said this more confidently. Not a question, a statement. "Done by gods. Not one, but many. Is that what you think?"

Irons laughed heartedly. "I knew I had chosen well!" He slammed his hands on the table, using the momentum to stand to his feet. "I think it's time to start, don't you?"

"What?"

But Irons was already moving. He walked into the living room and pulled in Chichi seconds later. Gohan shot to his feet glaring, relaxing only minutely once Irons released his hold on Chichi's hand. Chichi looked surprised, glancing from her son at the table to Irons beside her. Before she could voice her confusion, Irons interrupted her.

"Chichi, my dear," he said, "this is short notice, I know. But well, I'm afraid I always get ahead of myself."

Gohan rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Monroe? What is it?"

Irons walked to Gohan, smiling in an unnaturally happy way. Looking down at Gohan like a proud parent. "Gohan's has agreed to come with me, to further his studies, at Charles University."

"Gohan, really? This is so---"

"I haven't agreed to anything!" Gohan yelled, jumping back from Irons close proximity like he was some kind of disease. He turned to his mom. "I don't know what he is talking about! He's crazy! Insane!"

Chichi was staring at her son, eyebrows knitted together. Gohan stared back, willing her to understand his sincerity through the look in his black eyes. "Gohan, what is this all about? You've been rude to Mr. Monroe since he walked into our home."

"Mom!" Gohan yelled, trying to communicate the reason for his distrustfulness, "he's not who he says he is!"

"I've had enough of this!" Chichi shouted over Gohan's voice. "This could be a great opportunity for you! Why would you want to turn it down?"

Gohan opened his mouth ready to argue.

"You're pregnant."

That caused both of them to jump, heads spinning to Irons who had moved to the counter at some point and was now munching on an apple.

Unnoticing, Chichi's hand went to her stomach. "How did you--?"

The half eaten apple fell into the garbage bin. Irons steadied his strange eyes on her. Gohan balked, eyes wide and unbelieving as he now glanced between Irons and his mother.

"You've suspected for awhile. But haven't told your son." He tilted his head again, glancing down at her past his nose. "Why haven't you told Gohan?"

Chichi had paled, her hand now rubbing small circles where it lay on her stomach. "I wasn't sure. I didn't…"

"You were sure."

She scrunched her face at him, looking angry. Then desperately she turned to Gohan. He saw her tears immediately. "Gohan," she began, hiccupping, "I don't know. I didn't know."

Gohan wasn't sure how to respond. He had a brother. How could his mom hide this news? He looked again closer at her and realized suddenly, with a pang, that he didn't care that she had kept this from him. All he saw was his poor mother, hurt and upset, looking to him for acceptance. He could hardly stand to stay still any longer. Quick as he dared, he moved to her and patted her on the shoulder.

"Mom, it's okay," he heard himself saying, "It's fine." A blossoming of warmth burst in his stomach. He realized it was happiness. It had been awhile since he had felt like this. A brother. Amazing. He was going to be an older brother. Suddenly exuberant, he hugged his mom, laughing. He heard her laugh too, and when he stepped away he saw a smile on her face, shining through her tears.

"I'm sorry, Gohan," she said, anyway, now embracing him. "It was such a surprise, I didn't know how to react. I was going to let you know, really, I just wanted the right time. Nothing seemed right. You're father would have blurted out the news right away…"

She was babbling, but it hardly mattered. Gohan just smiled. Letting the warmth spread throughout him. How could it be that they were arguing only a few seconds ago. Arguing because of…he shot a death glare to where Irons had been standing. The spot of was empty.

Chichi eyes followed Gohan's. "Where did he go?" she asked, glancing around the kitchen suddenly. She wiped her eyes, and circled the area. "He's gone."


	2. Purpose

Author's Note:  
Hello DBZ friends. Literally, you have made my day even if all you did was click on this story than go away. (since I avidly check the stats seeing as no one likes to review :( . I'm excited for this chapter, and you should be to because it's got lots of action. This probably doesn't need to be said, but after chapter one the story really starts to pick up. So much fun to write! Anyway, please enjoy! (let me know if you enjoyed!)

Irons Monroe

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waiting-to-bloom

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CHAPTER TWO: Purpose

The ravine stretched out before him again. Jagged and sharp and going on forever. Gohan looked up at the sky, watching the clouds twist and churn. The scenery was familiar for him now. He had been here before, and was now more acutely aware of the lack of sound. The silence seemed to press in on him, acting like a force of its own. He shouted, but the sound of his voice was lost to his ears. Again he looked down at the split ravine and the swirling white mists, feeling far more apprehensive to take that route than he had been previously. The whispers pierced the silence tickling his ear. He watched the mists for a moment as they spun and whirled, looking alive. He turned away from it. He would take a different path. Eyes fixed ahead he headed towards the horizon line, where sky met earth. He walked on for ten minutes, but even so he felt no closer. Deciding a quicker way he lifted himself off the ground, and flew, pushing himself as fast as he dared over the black surface. The ground soared below him, the sky churned above him, and yet he was no closer, no further, to anything.

This was just a dream, Gohan knew, but he didn't think dreams could be so frustratingly endless. Screeching to a stop, he looked up wiping his forehead. Suddenly, the earth began to shake, and Gohan lost balance momentarily. He drifted back up into the air as he watched the hungry rock crumble and cave into itself without reason. Silently breaking apart. The sharp flutter of wings being pumped to remain airborne broke the eerie silence, as it had in his last dream. He jerked his mesmerized eyes away from the decaying earth towards the source of the sound. The bird was behind him, no less than fifteen feet, snapping its large wings up and down and staring straight at Gohan.

"Who are you?" Gohan yelled, but as he should have known, no sound came from his lips. The bird only remained, flapping up and down, up and down.

A huge rush of wind erupted from below Gohan, it acted like a suction, pulling him downwards. Shocked he shot a glance down, where the earth was once breaking apart, remained a black hole. Wind gushing in and swirling like a vortex into the bottomless pit. The wind was so abrupt and strong, it had caught Gohan completely by surprise. He cursed his luck, even in the dream world nothing turned out right! With all his strength he pushed upwards against the vacuum, trying in vain to fly up and out of the nearing hole. In his struggle, he glanced up at the bird, astonished to find that the powerful winds seemed to have no effect on it. It merrily continued to flap its wings in a steady rhythm tic beating, the only sound that broke through this strange world.

Gohan let out one last silent yell for help before he was sucked into the pit. Pulled into darkness he finally let go of his fight, letting the wind carry him instead. For awhile he fell, being sucked on the whims of the wind, deeper into darkness. He strained his eyes, opening them only half way to protect them from debris that had also fallen with him. Time passed, and then he noticed a circle of light, growing larger and larger at a terrifying rate. He realized he was heading straight for it. Instinct kicked in, and he pulled himself straight, angling his body like that of a deep sea diver. The switch in position caused him to barrel faster to the light, but he could now fit through the hole. In one great loud _whoosh_, he shot out of the vacuum, rocks and a wave of wind flying out with him. He pushed upward to avoid the opening, and let out a great whoop of victory. To his own surprise, his voice came out loud and strong.

At last he took a look at his new surroundings. It looked very similar to the area around his home, except…different. It had a bit of surreal wave to it, like a dream, Gohan mused, chuckling softly. Avoiding the puffing hole that hung strangely in the air, he floated back down. The long grass parted and flattened around him as he landed.

"Gohan!"

He turned, it was Grace, the women whom he had rescued. She looked strangely beautiful, despite being in her mid forties, her hair hung past her shoulders giving off a soft glow in the light, her smile was one of surprise and happiness. She wore a simple white dress, that caught the light and gently ruffled in the wind. She waved her hand and walked towards him. "I knew you would come," she said.

Gohan looked at her. He almost sighed aloud in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked, "What's going on?"

She smiled at his questions, and patted him on the head affectionately. "Irons said you would come."

Her statement caused Gohan to falter. He blinked, looked at her again, then blinked again. He was dreaming, right? Impulsively he reached out to touch her cheek , as if that might be enough to convince him if this world was real or not. She seemed unperturbed by his approaching finger, she only continued to smile as his hand neared. His finger went right through her cheek, he retracted back quickly in horror looking down at his solid hand then back up at her. Frantically he made to grab her wrists, but here to his fingers grabbed nothing.

"What's the matter, Gohan?" she asked, her voice sounding more distant despite their closeness.

"I don't---"

The world started to deteriorate around him, melting like a watercolor painting thrown into a puddle. "Grace!" he cried out, but she was fading too, her smile still one of calmness.

"Grace!"

Gohan woke with a start.

In the darkness, it was hard to see anything. He blinked and shook his head, trying to orientate himself to where he was. He was on his bed, in his room, his sheets and comforter had been pushed off, beyond the wall next to him he could hear his mother's gentle breaths. He raised a shaky hand to his head. That dream had felt almost real. Too real. It remained sharp and clear in his mind. He lay back down, forcing himself to be calm. It was only a dream. Well, more of a nightmare, really, but that wasn't new to him. In fact, ever since his father's passing he had been plagued with nightmares. But this, it was different somehow, everything had felt so…he couldn't place it, it just felt odd. With his head still spinning, he closed his eyes, forcing sleep.

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Irons Monroe had not come back.

Gohan had expected it, even anticipated the strange man's coming, and yet he remained absent. After a few days, Mr. Soplee returned to continue his tutoring sessions. He laughed off his absence, explaining that he did indeed come down with a terrible flu that had left him bedridden for a few days. Gohan and Chichi nodded their heads in understanding. But when Chichi asked Mr. Soplee if he knew a Mr. Monroe, Mr. Soplee had shrugged looking confused, admitting that he had never heard the name before. It was then that Chichi really became suspicious. Numerous times, she questioned Gohan about his encounters with Irons, always listening with a frown. Gohan assumed she was naturally suspicious because of what Irons had done on the last day he had visited. He had confronted Chichi about her pregnancy, a topic she clearly had wanted to keep secret for the time being. Gohan had forgiven his mother fully for keeping that secret, though he often wondered now that he knew the truth, how he could have possibly missed his mother's slightly pregnant belly. Even so, the thought of having another family member had left him unusually happy, he had even caught himself whistling once or twice as he studied. Eventually, Chichi too started to calm down. She and Gohan laughed a lot more often than they used to. Gohan was so surprised how happy he had become, for the most part he was content. The only thing that had become a damper on his new life was the strange dreams he had almost every night. After awhile, he usually forgot them, but the impression that they left on him never left. They made him feel like he was missing something. Like the feeling someone gets when they know they have forgotten something, but can't remember what it is they've forgotten. That feeling itched at the back of Gohan's mind for weeks, and yet try as he might he couldn't understand what it meant.

He stood outside watching the sunset, pondering about what it was he could possibly be missing. The night was still, the air crisp and cool against his hot face. Gohan curled his toes into the soft cool grass, watching as the first stars appeared in the growing darkness. What was it? Why did he feel this way? A crash in the kitchen caused him to glance over his shoulder towards the kitchen window and break himself out of his questioning thoughts. His mother smiled sheepishly back at him, holding up the pan that had fallen from her elbow deep soapy hands. Gohan smiled back, gave one last glance at the sky, then turned back inside to help his mom with the rest of the dishes.

"Come on, mom, let me do that. You need to take it easy, remember?"

"Gohan, I'm fine! You need to let me do something or I'll go crazy just sitting around!"

He backed off smiling. "Alright, alright. But I'm keeping an eye on you."

Chichi grumbled about being the parent in the house, but only halfheartedly as she returned the pan to its proper place. Placing her hands on her hips she said, "And you should be studying, young man."

Gohan sighed, shooting a tired glance at the kitchen table, which had become the clutter pile for his books, papers, and homework assignments Mr. Soplee assigned him to do every week. "I was really hoping I could turn in early, mom," he said trying to sound persuasive. "I'm really tired." He yawned for emphasis.

Chichi stared hard for a moment, then relaxed. "Alright, Gohan, you've earned your rest."

Gohan smiled.

"But I expect you to work extra hard tomorrow!" Chichi added raising her soapy finger and pointing it at him. "Now get to bed!"

"Goodnight," Gohan called over his shoulder as he trudged to his room, thinking how his plan had clearly just been thwarted. He opened the door to his room, the sun had set completely and the room was now encased in darkness save for the stream of light from the door. Tired, he shut the door behind him and trudged to his bed. He was about half way across his room when he froze in shock. A man was leaning in the corner of his room. Gohan could not see his face, but he recognized what he was beginning to call, the hole of energy coming from the man.

"Irons?" he whispered, waiting seconds for his eyes to adjust.

The man stepped out of the corner to the window. "Sorry, no."

Gohan stepped back, taking in the man's appearance. He had the same strange aura as Irons, but he was clearly different in all other aspects. His clothes were less pristine, and lay ragged in thick flops across his muscled body. He had a wild mop of brown hair that sprayed out of the top of his head and came to rest near his chin. Complimenting the hair was a rough beard that would have looked ridiculous on anyone else, but him. Gohan was tempted to flip on the light switch, but thought better of it. He didn't know what this man was capable of and the last thing he would want was his mother barging and putting herself in danger. In the back of his mind, he hoped his mom had decided to take a walk outside tonight, a habit she had developed lately within these summer months. He stared the man down, all the while edging to cover the door to his bedroom.

The man smirked in the moonlight, it sent a terrible crawl up Gohan's skin. If he didn't know better he would have thought he saw rows of pointed teeth peeking out from behind the man's lips.

"Who are you?" Gohan whispered, "Where is Irons?"

The man stalked closer to Gohan, his steps heavy across the wooden floor. He did not have the natural grace that Irons possessed.

"I can see why Irons wanted you," he said, eyeing Gohan critically. "Though you are young. Too young if it were my choice."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Gohan snapped. Was it him or did everyone talk in riddles these days? "What is it you want?"

The man's eyes snapped up, and for a moment when they moved they caught the light, flashing gold. "I've come in replace of Irons," he said impatiently. "He can't meet you, until you have agreed to work with him."

"Why?"

The man let out a growl, Gohan almost jumped back until he realized that it wasn't meant to be threatening, it was simply out of frustration.

"Your mother," the man said shortly. "As soon as Irons realized she was with child, he knew he could no longer demand your service."

Gohan listened intently, trying to connect the pieces in his mind. He remembered the last day he had seen Irons. How he had suddenly known that Gohan's mother was pregnant. But still, Irons was a persistent man, it seemed odd to Gohan that he would just give up simply because he decided to grow a conscience and leave Gohan be. There had to be more to the story than Gohan knew.

"What? Are those the rules?"

The man was pacing, shooting glances out the window every few seconds. "You're mother became a dependent once she was with child, you are her only anchor, to take you away would violate our rules." He stopped, snapped his fingers on his thigh, then glanced back out the window, pushing the shade out of the way to get a better look.

Gohan watched him, unnerved by how on edge the man seemed to be. He too shot a glance out the window, looking at the dark sky.

"What are you—" but then he saw something in the night. Moving like a dark shadow across the landscape, maybe two or three figures, if Gohan hadn't been paying attention he would not have noticed them. He heard the man at the window curse.

"They followed," he growled, crouching into a tense stance below the window. Without shooting a glance back at Gohan he said. "We have to get out of here."

"We?" Gohan stuttered. When had he become part of the equation? He didn't even know this guys name!

The man ignored him, instead rushing toward the bedroom door, and gently sliding it open. All the lights had been turned off. Gohan's mom must have turned in early as well. Panic suddenly struck through Gohan. She might be out there right now with those dangerous figures taking a walk. He pushed past the man who was cautiously inching out the bedroom and rushed to his mother's room. Disregarding silence he flung the door open, hoping to see her curled beneath her covers.

She was not there.

"Mom!?" Gohan yelled, panic rising in his throat. He frantically glanced around the rest of the house. "MOM!??"

The man pounced on him in the darkness. Gohan felt the man's full weight, collapse on him pushing him to the ground. He could have easily pushed him off, but he was too startled. The man's harsh whisper and heavy breath came near his ear.

"Quiet! Do want us all to die?"

Gohan wiggled out from beneath the man, ignoring him, but remained quiet.

The man continued. "Your mother could be fine. She might have left before they came."

Gohan wanted to believe him, but the heavy feeling in his gut was telling him otherwise. He waited in silence for a long moment, the tension in his body building. .

"We can take them," Gohan whispered lowly. He hadn't trained his whole life just so he could hide in the shadows.

The man didn't have a response for that. He rolled into a low crouch then moved towards the back room so that his back was to the wall and his eyes on the front door, Gohan moved to join him. Suddenly, the door to his house creaked open. Gohan spun, leveling into a natural fighting stance, and waited.

A creature, hunched and dark entered. He was incredibly muscular, but looked slightly disfigured because of how his long thin neck protruded out at nearly a ninety degree angle. Instead of fingers and toes he had sharp claws, black and yellow from decay. His face was mostly human, though the features were sharper and attached to his back were two large claw like wings. Fangs hung out from his mouth. Ears like a bat's. And his eyes, deep and wide, and unearthly red. He stepped inside, sharp claws clicking on the floor, two others following close behind.

An acidy breath emitted out of the creature's nostrils as he scanned the inside of the room.

"Don't think you can hide in the dark," he suddenly sneered, steadying his gaze on Gohan than at the man in the corner. "I live in the dark." The other two behind him chuckled, darkly.

"Don't worry," Gohan said, his body already naturally powering up in response to the danger. "I'm not hiding."

Suddenly, he sent a ki blast straight at them. The bright yellow orb lit up the room like a firecracker as it soared across and hit the first creature square in the chest. He stumbled, gasping in shock. Gohan only put a small bit of energy. It was meant to test them, to determine their real strength.

It was also meant as a distraction.

He flew at them, following his jet of light, stirring up his homework papers as he too shot at them faster than a human eye could follow. A solid punch landed on the first's gut, knocking him backwards a hundred feet out of the house. The two behind tumbled to the side, sneering and hissing at Gohan as they watched. Pushed out of the house, the first creature groaned slowly getting up to his feet. His sidekicks came immediately to his side.

Gohan gave a quick check to his right and left, sweeping the landscape for any sight of his mother. She was still nowhere to be found. He assumed his fighting stance.

"Where is my mother?"

The creature was wheezing and chuckling, eyeing Gohan with his creepy red eyes.

"The poor boy can't find is mama. Poor child! Whom will he cry to!" he mocked, still wheezing from the blow. He snickered, then sobered. "Maybe I've taken her."

Gohan's fists tightened. "Tell me where she is," he commanded.

"Why," the creature spat, black blood hit the grass, "would I tell you that?"

"I don't want to hurt you…" Gohan started, but the creature ignored him.

"Hurt me?" he laughed, as if that was a ridiculous thought. "Boy don't know who you are talking to."

Without preamble, he lifted his head to the skies and let a terrible high pitched scream. The other two joined in to the horrible choir and Gohan was forced to clamp his hand over his ears. The sound made nails against the chalkboard sound like a symphony. Gohan glanced up, was it just him or did it seem like the sky was getting darker. The stars were snuffing out, the moon dimming beneath a blanket of black. No, wait. Gohan looked closer. Hundreds, maybe thousands of those creatures filled the sky, flapping their large wings, and heading straight for Gohan. The screams had finally ceased, replaced with the snickering of a thousand demon creatures.

Play time was over.

The three creatures at the front were all chuckling. "You wish you could take back that punch, huh human." The first said again. "Now you are going to die."

His legions of creatures were swarming in getting closer, Gohan stepped away from his house and glanced up at them. A smirk came to his lips. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into. He clenched his fists and released the first burst of energy. His scream echoed through the air. The creatures all hesitated, watching this small boy, become something terrifying. He glowed in the night, his hair shot up into golden waves, black eyes lightened, he was super saiyan. The world responded to the sudden intense wave of power, bursts of energy shot out around him, staggering those who had gotten near, the earth beneath cracked and rippled like a growing earthquake. And like a power they had never seen, he shot out at them in a stream of earth, light, and wind. Gohan collided into a group of the creatures hanging midflight, still shocked from his sudden transformation. He punched the nearest one and his abdomen gave way like paper. Gohan's smirk grew, they may be many, but they were weak. He followed his punch with a succession of kicks and elbows. About thirty had fallen out the air before the creatures finally started to respond. They were no longer snickering, they were screeching in anger and rage. All at the once, they attacked Gohan, a cloud of black looking to snuff out the light.

Gohan had found his rhythm. Ducking and dodging in a swarm of legs and fists and fangs. He snapped off ones arm, grabbed another's ankle and swung him into a nearing group. One attacked from behind, swiping his long arm claw at Gohan's back, Gohan spun in response his body reacting instinctively, before even his eyes had caught up with him, he had broken the creatures wings and let him fall. Three more attacked in response, and he took them down with one swing. He fought on, hard and fast, weaving through the tangle of creatures faster than they could keep up with him, but even still they swarmed, hundreds of them clouding around him. He charged up, a burst of light broke out and pushed the horde backwards, giving him a moments breath, before they returned, more vigorously, gnawing and growling as they neared.

He had to get out of the horde or else he would eventually be overwhelmed. He needed the higher ground. Just after he retracted his elbow from one of the creature's face, he shot up a ki blast, stronger than the one before, in the direction he assumed was up. The yellow blast tore through the group of creatures, burning off appendages and blowing holes through exposed bodies as it traveled. Gohan wasted no time in rushing through his self-made pathway before it was swallowed up again with more creatures. He flew fast, chopping off arms as they tried to grasp him as he traveled. At last, he appeared out of the top of the creatures, but he was only seconds ahead of them. They had spun, shoving into each other as they worked to keep up with him. Gohan tapped into his speed flying downwards to increase the distance. One hundred feet out, he stopped and turned to face them. Clamping his hands together, he prepared himself for the same attack he had used on Cell only a month ago.

"Kaaaa-meeee-"

A small blue light lit up his hands.

"haaaa-meeeee-"

The creatures were flapping their wings more insistently, the crowd of hundreds nearing him. The closest reached out his sharp claw, his mouth open in a high-pitched screech.

"HAAAAAAA!!!"

The wave erupted outwards. Tearing apart every creature within the blast. Their screams barely registered over Gohan's own. The kamehameha wave broke through their bodies and then the earth's atmosphere, continuing on into space like a shooting star of its own. Gohan's gaze swept the sky, the blast had destroyed every last one of the creatures. Relaxing only slightly, he lowered himself back down to the ground. His eyes flicked around to see if the first three creatures he had seen were still there, but they appeared to either joined the fight or fled.

Only after making sure his surroundings were clear, he powered down. The sudden release of strength caused him to sway slightly, but he otherwise stood strong, barely winded, his hard black eyes taking in the gory scene. Something akin to disgust swirled in his gut. This was home, a familiar landscape, now soaked with the bodies of dead creatures. Creatures he had killed. He had changed so much. If there was ever a time he feared that one day he would become like Cell, this sight only confirmed his terror. Shakily he turned away, only now realizing how badly his hands were trembling.

A heavy hand landed on his shoulder. He jumped slightly and turned to look at the face. It was the bearded man, who had come into his room earlier. This close up Gohan could finally see that the man's eyes really were a warm gold, like that of the sunshine or of fresh grain that grew in the fields not far from his home.

"Are you alright, Gohan?" he asked, his voice was significantly softer, though it still had the same rough deep edge to it that it had had earlier.

Gohan didn't respond immediately. He looked back to his home, happy at the very least to see that it was still intact.

"My mother…she's, she's gone…They've taken her."

Even after saying those words aloud, he could hardly believe it. The hand on his shoulder squeezed gently, but the man didn't argue.

"I'm sorry," he said, unsure how else he could proceed.

Gohan shrugged, pulling himself away from the man. He turned his back and crossed his arms, looking again at the tortured landscape.

"I never did catch your name."

"I go by many," the man said, "but you can call me Leo."

Gohan looked over his shoulder at the man, Leo. He was like Irons, he knew Irons. Could he be trusted? What was it he had said in the bedroom earlier? That Gohan was the anchor to his mother? What did that even mean? It seemed now that he didn't have much choice in what he was going to do next. He would have to accept Irons offer, and then with Irons knowledge and his power he would find his mother and his unborn brother, and bring them back safely. He had to. They were depending on him. He was their anchor.

"Leo," Gohan said after a long silence. "I've decided to come with you."

Leo nodded, unsurprised by Gohan's decision. "Is there anything you want to bring with you?"

Gohan turned back to the house. Without anyone inside it looked so empty like a shell without its soul.

"No. Nothing."

"Alright then. Let's go."

Leo again put his hand on Gohan's shoulder, this time though, Gohan could feel a small channel of power. Without any warning, the vanished.


	3. Insight

Hey everyone! It's chapter 3 – Sorry this update took longer. I've been busy with work and all. I also picked up a book from a new author I'm reading. Brandon Sanderson – he is incredible. Needless to say his books are distracting me from writing this one!

Chapter 3: Insight

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The air seemed to press in Gohan as he watched his home disappear around him. 'Is this what instant transportation feels like?' he wondered wildly in the short moment of darkness. The only awareness he had was the increase of pressure all around him and Leo's hand on his shoulder. Then the world popped back into focus, and the pressure drained way, leaving Gohan feeling momentarily exhausted, like he had just been pulled out of a very small tube. Leo let go of his shoulder and Gohan finally took in his new surroundings.

It looked like something out of his textbook on Africa, majestic and unlike anything Gohan had ever seen in person. The sun was incredibly large and beat down on them, it waves of heat caused it to appear like it was rippling. Gohan took in the hot smell of sand and animals. It looked so much like the African planes, but it was different somehow. Surreal in way that only his dreams could have compared too.

"Where are we?"

Leo smiled. "My home."

Gohan looked at him for the first time since they had arrived and was almost shocked to see the transformation that had taken in the man's stature. He was the same, but more relaxed and at ease. That simple change in posture made him look inches taller. Relaxed fists at his side suggested an unbreakable confidence. The jungle backdrop fit him like no other, his light eyes caught the sun, his heavy hair shivered in the wind.

"I thought you were taking me to Irons," finally said, feeling a sudden sense of urgency.

Leo grunted. "He said he would meet us here instead. I guess you must have questions."

Gohan had questions, plenty of them. So many rushed through his head at that moment, he wasn't sure which to ask first. 'Concentrate!?' he scolded himself. He had to figure out what was most important. His mother. He had to find his mother, that was the reason he was here. To get answers to help him rescue her.

"What were those things?" Gohan said finally. "Those things that took my mom?"

"Demons."

That caused Gohan to hesitate. He watched for any smirk on Leo's face, but there was none, the man was dead serious. "Demons? As in demons from hell?" Gohan tentatively asked.

Leo shrugged. "Close enough."

"What do you mean by---" he stopped and caught himself. He couldn't afford to become sidetracked, he had to ask the important questions. Every second spent here was time wasted not searching for his mom.

"How can I get my mom back?"

Leo looked uncomfortable by the question.

"She is still alive, right?" Gohan whispered, peering into Leo's face. Was he really certain he wanted to her the answer to that question?

Leo sighed and started walking, taking long heavy strides.

"Follow me."

As soon as Gohan was at his side, he continued.

"It's possible. If they knew who she was before they saw her."

"You mean, if they knew she was my mother," Gohan said quietly.

He wasn't about to delude himself into thinking that those creatures, whom he had just killed hundreds of, would not consider him a powerful enemy. They would want him gone, it would be impossible, but if they had leverage-- Gohan couldn't think any further than that. The very idea was making him physically sick. How could he have let this happen? His father would have stopped them, beaten all those demon things in seconds and have his wife at his side with no problem. But Gohan was not his father. Even with Cell, when he was immensely more powerful he screwed it all up. His stupid pride had gotten his dad killed! Now his mother was in trouble too, and it was his entire fault.

Gohan fell silent, walking faster than he normally would to keep up with Leo's own long strides. They crossed the great plane and stepped into the jungle. Desperate to pull himself out of his depressing thoughts Gohan searched for another question. He was surprised how less curious he suddenly was. Finally he asked. "So, what do you mean about me being an anchor?"

Leo had just stepped over a log. He looked back over his shoulder, shrugging. "It's difficult to explain," he began, "especially to someone who does not know our rules."

"Explain anyway."

Leo smiled. "I'm understanding why Irons liked you so much more and more," he shook his head. "Let's see…people, we see them in as part of three categories, well mostly. There's a lot more, but for simplicity we will say three."

Gohan nodded, encouraging Leo to continue.

"There's the independents, people who can live and function without aid. The dependents, people who need aid. And finally the anchors, those who were independent but became attached to a dependent in some way. We are only allowed to directly approach an independent. There is a lot of theology behind this, Gohan, but to keep it simple, if we limit our involvement to independents only, we become less of a disturbance to the natural balance, because independents are not linked to another person."

Rules, natural balance, all of that talk did not make much sense to Gohan, but the explanation did help him understand a few things.

"So, once Irons found out my mother was pregnant, he knew he could no longer approach me because I was her natural anchor?"

"Correct," Leo said nodding. "Also, Irons could not approach you until after your father's death. Before his passing, you were still considered a dependent and he was your anchor."

Gohan started. That was something he had not considered. It made him wonder, just how long had Irons been watching and waiting for him. He thought back to the first day he had met the man, how out of place and unconcerned he appeared. He had said then, that he had known of Gohan's power for a long time. At the time, Gohan wasn't sure if maybe the man was bluffing, but now, well, he was finding it increasingly hard not to believe what he said was true. He fell back into what Leo had explained, everything made sense, except for one detail.

"I guess I'm starting to understand, Leo. But there is still something I don't get. How come you were able to approach me, if I was an anchor. Don't the rules apply the same to you as well?"

Leo smirked. "That Gohan, is my own secret. I'm a bit of an exception, which is why Irons sent me."

Their pace was slowing down, Gohan looked up to see Leo heading straight for an enormous tree. The trunk itself must have been twenty feet wide. This time Gohan didn't ask where they were going, he just followed, watching closely as Leo raised his fist as if to knock on the tree. Instead, he spread his palm across it and closed his eyes. A streak of silver light leaked out of the tree, almost as if it was trying to escape from the center of the tree's trunk. More rays of light followed, bursting out in all different directions, as the tree suddenly started to bulge outward. Gohan stepped back, gazing in awe, and half expecting the tree to explode from the inside out. Above him the branches shook, sounding like the tail of a rattlesnake, as some of their green leaves fell on them like rain. It was a beautiful and mysterious sight. Gohan felt his breath hitch as the light overwhelmed him and Leo in one giant blast. The light was so blinding that he had to squeeze his eyes against it, raising his arms to protect himself. Then suddenly he was in darkness, he blinked rapidly feeling his eyes already working to adjust themselves. A shrinking cast of light came from behind him, casting his shadow forward on the dirt floor. He glanced over his shoulder to see the trunk of the tree close in on itself like a door. He was inside the tree!

Branches and bark weaved in on themselves closing the tree shut and cutting off the light, but only momentarily, just as soon as the door shut, blue lights lit up the inside of the tree.

"What was that?!?" Gohan gasped in amazement. He was already bouncing around glancing at the mysterious innards of the tree, forgetting for a second his troubles, as he explored, completely entranced. He ran his fingers under the hanging roots above him, amazed to see the cavern extended on and on like a tunnel, blue lights lighting up the pathway.

Leo was chuckling. "You're about to meet some interesting…folks, Gohan. Are you ready?"

Gohan stopped. "I thought you were taking me to Irons."

"He's there to. I have already told you this," Leo cut in. "You should learn to trust me, Gohan. I don't lie."

Beneath Leo's tall stature, Gohan suddenly felt a lot like the child he really was. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Leo shrugged, but gently patted Gohan on the shoulder, encouraging him to move forward down the path. It was not long until Gohan started to hear sounds of people talking, low murmurings echoing off the tree's walls. They walked on,un till finally the narrow cavern started to open up, into a giant dome. Gohan had the sudden thought of an ant, as he gazed at the dome and its hundreds of tunnels meeting into this one area.

Then he noticed the people.

But they were not really like people. His eyes swept the room taking in the hundreds of different creatures. Most had a human shape, but they were distinctly something else as well. He saw numerous ones with horns that curved or shot out like antlers or rams from the top of their heads. Others were different in color, in one area he counted ten different colors together ranging from things like magenta to bright yellow with orange stripes. Some were covered in hair, or had tails, or long ears and slanted eyes. So many different shapes and colors, Gohan couldn't recall ever a time that he had seen so many different kinds of creatures. As he gazed, his mouth open, his eyes wide, it barely even registered in his mind that the room had quieted down significantly. Only until every pair of unusual eyes were looking up at him and Leo, did he suddenly notice, that they were all staring at him, waiting.

Waiting for something, he didn't know. Maybe they were curious?

He snapped his mouth shut and blinked rapidly, glancing from Leo to the crowd and back again. Was he supposed to say something? Surely they didn't expect him to make a speech? He was terrible at that type of thing, it would all go horribly wrong, and then—

"All right, stop gawking! All of you!" Leo shouted at the crowd. He suddenly grabbed tight Gohan's arm, and maneuvered him down into the dome.

The crowd let out a general groan, and went back to their conversations. Though, as Gohan was pulled through their midst, he did notice that several of them were shooting him very odd glances.

"What is this, Kenadal?"

Gohan was jerked to a stop. He glanced around Leo's shoulder to see a tall man blocking their way. Unlike some of the others around him, he looked mostly human. He had long orange hair that was slicked down to the middle of his back, and wore large pieces of wooden jewelry across his neck and wrists. In fact, the only thing that was not human about him was his strange cat-like eyes that were currently glaring down at Gohan.

"It's Leo, now, Theo." Leo said as he moved to push past the trite man.

Theo wouldn't have any of it, he stepped to the side, blocking Leo's path again. A crowd started to squeeze in around them, curious eyes looking over to see what was going on.

"What is this?" Theo repeated, "Have you been reduced to babysitting?"

That elicited a few laughs from the creatures nearest to Theo. He grinned, confident.

"I told you working for Irons would get you nowhere!" Theo shook his head. "You used to be so great, Kenadal, now look at you." He pointed at Gohan. "You're an errand boy!"

Leo growled, and the crowd stepped back, even Theo, who was looking so confident, faltered, his grin fading.

"I'll have you know," Leo said, his voice loud enough for even the people in the back to hear, "that this boy you are referring to Theo just defeated nearly a thousand Shruti."

The whole room hushed into shocked silence. Theo swallowed, turning to Gohan again. "You can't be serious…" he muttered, eyeing Gohan up and down like he expected him to shout out 'surprise!'. "But that's impossible!"

Leo chuckled darkly. "Impossible for you, yes, but not for him."

"Come on, Gohan."

Gohan, who's ears were red from embarrassment, felt himself tugged along once again, deeper into the dome. If Gohan had thought the glances he had received before were bad, they were nothing compared to all the creatures who stole glances at him as he passed now. They didn't even bother to try and hide their curiosity, they just stared at him blatantly.

A women with long curly blonde hair and pointed ears ran up to Leo. She looked rather beside herself as she tapped on Leo's shoulder repeatedly.

"Kenadal, it's true then is it? Its true?"

"What's true, Ruby?"

She leaned over, a slightly amazing feat, considering the pace Leo was keeping. "That Irons wanted a bodyguard."

Leo gave an uncommitted snort.

She turned to Gohan, frowning. "He's not quite what I expected."

Leo laughed. "Really, now? Then you certainly do not know Irons."

"I'm sorry," Gohan interrupted started to get annoyed at how they talked like he wasn't there. "But I'm not here to watch anyone. I'm here to find my mom."

Ruby looked at him strangely, then turned to Leo in question. Leo only shook his head. "Later," he muttered.

Leo pulled again, more sharply on Gohan's wrist to get him to move faster through the tangle of creatures. Suddenly a sharp pair of claws reached out and tried to snatch at Gohan's other hand. Gohan dodged the claws instinctively and casually glanced over his shoulder to see who it was. In the midst of the crowd was a short creature, with brown skin rather built like a hide of a dear or buck. His hands were tipped with razor claws. He eyed Gohan intently.

"Hey wait!" he called out, in a growling voice as Gohan was pulled further out of his reach. He tried to grab him again, but as before he was unsuccessful in getting a hold of Gohan. Frustrated, he pushed through a group of gawking creatures in order to keep up.

"What do you want, Lone?" Ruby asked, the annoyance practically dripping off her cool voice.

"I know you!" Lone said, ignoring Ruby and still eyeing Gohan.

Gohan stopped, causing Leo to nearly fall backwards as he tugged on what was now virtually a wall.

"You do?" Gohan asked, looking at the man, creature, whatever, more closely, half-expecting recognition to start to kick in. It did not.

"Oh yes! Of course, I see it now. The Cell Games. Your hair is different, though…golden."

Gohan rubbed his head self-consciously. "Must have been someone else, as you can see I have black hair."

He wasn't entirely sure why he was lying to this creature. Maybe it was his need to feel normal. But that wouldn't be right, amidst this crowd, glowing hair would probably be considered far more normal than his natural black. He could lie to himself but he knew it was because he didn't want his secret known, at least not just yet. It was bad enough they were all staring at him because of the Shruti, or demons things he killed. How would they respond if they had known that he had only used half his power to do that job? Lone looked less sure as he faltered back, but his comment had led to a string of more considerations.

"Perhaps I was mistaken," Lone mumbled, but even as he did, Ruby stepped forward, bending over Gohan to get a closer look at his face.

"No, no Lone. I think you might have something there. He does look a lot like that kid from the Cell Games. Same height and everything."

An echo from the crowd nodded their head in agreement.

"It's the same kid!"

"It ain't him! There's no way!"

"Who else could have beat so many Shruti!?"

Gohan's flush face paled slightly. Leo looked about helplessly at the growing crowd, that was circling closer around them. In defense Gohan raised his arms.

"Really, I don't know--"

But his protests were drowned out by the growing number who were voicing out their opinions. The circle tightened around them, and Leo moved forward to block Gohan.

"That's quite enough."

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Chichi woke to the sound of flapping wings. It was not the pleasant sound of morning birds she was used to. It sounded more thick and heavy. Like large, featherless wings. Was this a dream?

She opened her eyes. The world around her only grew minutely lighter. She blinked. She was in a forest, as best as she could tell, but all the branches to the trees were bare.

Her head was killing her, every pound jarring her skull anew. Where was she? What had happened? Where was Gohan? A thousand questions surged through her head, so much so it came rushed through like dull noise. All she really recognized was the sudden sense of panic and fear that was overwhelming her as she lay in the cloaking darkness. The wings snapped again, and she jerked her head around, straining her imperfect human eyes in the night. Her hand went to her head. She pulled away, feeling blood. It was dry and crusty, but that was a good thing, right? It meant she wasn't bleeding anymore, but she still didn't know how long she had been bleeding before she woke up. She shifted her position, letting her body work out its lethargy. Slowly, she curled her toes, rolled her ankles, stretched out her calves-- A sudden spasm of pain shot up her leg, it nearly drove her into unconsciousness once more. Despite herself, she gasped. A flutter of wings, responded to that, sounding closer than they had moments before. She glanced down at her leg, and even in the dim light she could see it now. It was broken. Looking at it seemed to cause it to hurt even more, she bit down on her lip, letting out a soft whimper. The femur was broken, twisting out at an odd angle.

'Come on, ChiChi,' she scolded to herself, 'you're the wife of Goku. The mother of Gohan. Get over it! Toughen up!'

She glanced down at the leg again, cradling it gently between her hands. She knew what she had to do, but that didn't mean she wasn't dreading it. She remained quiet for a long moment, listening for any more flutter of wings. After a few minutes had passed, she deemed it safe, enough to try. Cautiously, she sat up and untied the sash from around her torso. The purple sash seemed like it would be tough enough. Without jarring her broken leg too much, she bent over and tied the sash to her ankle. So far so good. Now came the hard part. Planting her hands firmly on the dirt ground beneath her, she scooted her body, than leg, towards the nearest tree. Each movement caused an explosion of pain to radiate up her thigh, but this time she was ready for it and she gritted her teeth in response. The process was slow, but at last, she neared the tree, her tied ankle resting up against the trunk of it. Bending out again, she tied the remaining part of the sash around the tree and double checked her knots. All she had left to do now was pray for mercy.

Clenching her fists, and gritting her teeth, she bared down, then without thinking too much further than it had it be done, she pull her entire weight backwards away from the tree. Her broken leg lifted up into the air, and snapped straight.

Chichi screamed, and a flutter of wings clouded around her.

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"Irons?"

"Of course, who did you expect?" Irons said, smirking as he effortlessly moved forward.

"Finally!" a blue man shouted from the crowd, "Are you going to tell us why you have dragged us here, Irons?"

A few others shouted their agreement.

"Easy, Deni, in time." Irons moved forward, parting through the creatures without much less than a wave of indication from his hand. They had all stopped chattering and were now waiting to see what happened next. He neared Gohan and Leo, staring at Gohan with a shocking intensity from his dull blue eyes.

Suddenly he paused. He gaze seemed to sharpen as he looked closer at Gohan. With a concerned brow he asked. "What has happened, Gohan?"

In that moment, the unusual crowd seemed to melt away from Gohan's awareness. That one simple question, ignited a thousand worries inside his stomach. His mother, taken. His inability to save her. The hundreds of dead Shruti crumpled on the grass, black blood pooling around them, red eyes glazed and lifeless. He blinked that fear away, focusing on Irons. The strange man whom he had banked all his hope in.

"My mother was taken by the Shruti," Gohan said, repeating the name he had heard Leo use earlier, to a hushed crowd.

Irons brows drew closer together.

"Taken? By the Shruti?" Ruby interrupted, her voice a quiet gasp. "Oh, but that's horrible!" she whirled to Gohan, "I'm so sorry, darling!" She grasped tight on Gohan, attempting to give him a reassuring squeeze.

"Really now, Ruby, that's enough," grumbled Leo as he proceeded to pluck her off.

Gohan remained unusually still, continuing to look at Irons, nearly matching the other's own intensity. As he stared, a darker feeling started to churn inside him. The one he had worked so hard to remove from his life.

"If you hadn't interfered in my life, she would still be safe. I've got half a mind to kill you right now."

The anger had come out more powerful than Gohan had anticipated. But he couldn't help it, now that he saw Irons, he was beginning to realize how much of this was really Irons fault. If he hadn't meddled by sending Leo, then the Shruti would have never came to his home. His death threat, came out with unusual ease, in a chilling quiet tone.

The crowd gasped. Theo, who had pushed himself near the front, snapped his powerful jaws. "Do you know who you speak to boy!?" he hissed. Others nodded their heads, and roared in agreement. In fact, the only one who seemed unfazed by Gohan's threat, was Irons himself.

He waited for the creatures around him to grow silent. Tilting his head slightly, he asked, "And why is that, Son Gohan?"

The simple audacity the man showed, boiled Gohan's blood hotter than before. How could he be so calm, when this entire thing was his fault? Somehow, he managed to restrain himself. Shaking fists remaining tightly at his sides. His tongue was less compliant.

"Why do you think!?" he spat sarcastically, "You're stupid meddling in my life caused this! My mother would still be safe at home, if you hadn't sent Leo to practically march those Shruti straight up to my door!"

Tears hit Gohan's cheeks. Irons watched him, arms at his sides.

"I see…I'm afraid, Gohan you have misunderstood my intentions for you," Irons said after a moment, then he waved to Leo. "Let us talk about this somewhere more private." He leveled his gaze with everyone watching.

Leo's hand gripped his elbow. "…misunderstood your intentions?" Gohan questioned wildly in a trembling voice.

"Come on, Gohan," Leo muttered, giving a slight tug. Gohan remained, his whole body shaking.

"I don't have time to for this!" Gohan roared. "I'm tired of you shoving me around and giving me nothing but more questions!! My mother is GONE!" A burst of power whirled around Gohan, kicking up dirt and pushing back the gawking creatures a few feet. Leo's grip slipped as he too slid backwards. For a moment, Gohan's hair shot up golden and the crowd gasped.

"I know Gohan!" Leo yelled out over the rumble of wind. "We are going to help you! But you must listen!!"

Gohan ignored him. It wasn't Leo he was looking for clarification from, it was Irons. Irons, the only man, who stood straight as a post and unmoving against the whipping wind of Gohan's power. Even now, after the death threats and outburst of power, he remained passive.

"They would have come anyway," Irons said.

"I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want, but I'm not lying to you, Gohan. That is not our way." Irons head tilted to the side.

Gohan glared at him.

"You need to relax, Gohan. I cannot help you in this state."

Gohan's eyes narrowed, but he finally acquiesced. Slowly, he reeled himself back in. It was harder than it should have been. He forced himself to take deep calming breaths to allow his clenched fists to unravel. Despite his anger, he needed to remain calm. He didn't believe Irons but he was right about this, losing his temper was wasting precious time. He breathed out again.

With the exhale of his breath the air around him calmed, giving one final whirl as it fell back to the ground. A perfect circle of kicked up dirt and debris surrounded his proud form. All the creatures around him anxiously glanced at one another, wanting to break the silence, but unsure of what to do. Leo stood hesitantly nearby, Ruby feet from his side.

"Tell me what I need to do."

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	4. Dependents

A/N: It's funny. I was glancing at my reviews (very appreciated!) and it made me laugh. Nearly every person said "Keep up the good/great work". LOL. Believe me, I will try my best to do so. Oh man, I love you guys.

Chapter Four - - Dependents

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Grace set down her mug. It was coffee, with extra cream, extra sugar, and a plop of whip cream on top. At its current state, she figured she could still call it coffee. A little more sugar and maybe some caramel and she had better come up with a different name for her concoction. Like mocha loca latte or something. Did that even make sense? She glanced down at it, pulled out a stirring straw, than swirled the contents. Either way, it contained caffeine, and lots of it. Since she wasn't partial to the bitter taste of normal coffee she figured this was the best way to get her much needed fix.

She glanced at the clock. _6:37 am_. She'd been awake for nearly four hours, and had given up on trying to fall back asleep nearly a half hour ago. Hence, the coffee. She sipped another gulp of the hot liquid, her mind already falling back to what she had been contemplating and turning over in her head all night long.

The dream.

It seemed silly, really, to be so troubled by a simple a dream, but she couldn't help herself. It had felt so real, so unusually tangible. She swore she could smell the flowers, feel the wind twist her hair, the soft blades of grass tickle her bare feet. Was that even possible? She had asked her friends, but of course, they all assured her it was just her imagination getting away from her. She couldn't even believe that was the best answer they could come up with! They should know her better than that.

Grace didn't have an imagination. She was a complete dud when it came to anything creative. Where in their right mind did it make sense that she, the unmarried forty-three year old women, who worked at the bank and who's idea of being creative was organizing her kitchen utensils, could come up with such a vivid and unrelenting dream?

It had to be more than coincidence. But that thought made everything she was thinking about sound even more silly. It was just a dream. Granted, an amazingly real and vibrant dream, but a dream just the same.

The past few nights it had been stunningly real, but mostly uneventful. She would just wander aimlessly through a field of long grass. Towards the beginning, somebody might have visited her, but the details to that encounter were completely foggy. Try as she might, she couldn't even conjure up the image of the person, much less their conversation. That wasn't what was bothering her though. It was the latest dream. The one that had kept her up all night.

It started out the same, with her in the field. The breeze still and calm, the sunshine bright and warm on her exposed face, when suddenly the sky opened up like a black hole. She had gazed up at it, the wind from the hole whipping her hair in her face, when, to her shock, that boy she had met in the alleyway popped out.

What was his name? Gary? No that was definitely not right. She thought quickly back to the moment in the alleyway. To his bright and calm face that seemed to glow warmly in contrast to the dark, slick, concrete around him. Gohan. That was his name. How could she forget?

He had floated for a moment in the sky, that in itself was an oddity, but then again she had to remind herself that it had been just a dream. People flew all the time in their dreams, so the sight of him hanging in the sky should not have so shocking to her as it had felt when she had first seen it. She had talked to him, smiled at him, embracing the warmth that his company gave off. She couldn't remember the words that were exchanged, but she felt that they were important.

Again, silly.

Why should she consider it such an importance that she dreamed of Gohan. He had rescued her, it only seems natural that he might appear in her dreams. That was what she had been telling herself all night. That there was no need to get all worked up about it because it hadn't really happened, it was merrily a figment of her imagination. Something her brain put together to entertain her in her sleep. A perfectly acceptable theory except for one minor flaw.

The dream had felt so real.

She took another swig of her coffee. This was where it got disturbing.

Everything was going well when suddenly Gohan started to evaporate. Disappear before her very eyes. She could still remember the look on his face just before he vanished completely from her sight. He had looked trapped, fearful, desperate. Like he was in trouble. Like he needed her help.

It scared her.

Feeling a sudden chill, she wrapped her blanket closer around herself, snuggling deeper into her worn couch. This was all so impossible, so annoyingly unreal, but she couldn't drown out the fear she had growing inside her. Somehow, she knew, she just knew, that Gohan needed help.

'_Okay,' _she thought, '_I can accept that. But where does that get me?_ '

She didn't know anything about the kid, accept for his name and his unnatural ability to bend guns in half.

'_Oh God!' _ She folded her face in her hands, '_I am going crazy.' _

But even as she sat there, she knew she wasn't going to give up. She took another sip from her mug, if anything just to calm her nerves. Maybe she was crazy, maybe all that alone time she had dealt with or the trauma of the robbery had left her mentally unstable, but she didn't care.

'_I'll find him.' _She decided at last, '_Find where he lives and make sure he is okay. Then I can put this whole thing behind me and not have to worry about it anymore.' _

It was the little things. Doing this would put her at ease. The knot her stomach finally started to unravel. She would look him up online, meet him and thank him again for saving her, than she would put this whole embarrassing incident behind her like a bad dream.

Her alarm went off. She got up, grimacing at her sore muscles, and walked to her bedroom to shut it off.

'_Time to get up.'_

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They were sitting in another room, one that was isolated from numerous curious eyes and eavesdroppers. This one, like the rest of the dome, was lit up with blue lights, and had tree roots dangling from the ceiling. Gohan was sitting on a tree stump, Irons across from him, and Leo at his right. It had taken a good three minutes to calm down the restless creatures outside, who had clearly become sick of being pushed around and told to wait. They were almost as annoyed and anxious for answers from Irons as Gohan was. Irons had told them to be patient, that some unforeseen obstacles had come up, and that it would take him a little bit longer to address them all. Gohan was actually surprised how many of them had chosen to stay. Sure a few had walked off, grumbling to themselves, but for the most part, they had remained, their curiosity overriding their impatience.

Leo had grabbed Gohan's arm and led him here, and now he sat, tight-lipped and openly glaring at Irons.

"Well?" he shot after a moment.

Irons looked disturbed, his normally calm features melting into slight anxiety. The expression didn't look right on his face. He massaged his temples, eyes on the floor.

"Things have gotten out of hand."

"I could have told you that," Gohan grumbled.

Irons glanced up at him, than shook his head. "With your mother missing, we can't move forward. Not until she is returned to you or…" he trailed off and Leo shifted next to him, looking uncomfortable.

Gohan watched them, feeling his annoyance grow. "Or what?"

Leo leaned in a little closer. "Or until your connection with her as an anchor is severed."

The implication left Gohan pale. "…until she's dead," he whispered.

Irons nodded, straightening up.

Gohan sat quiet for a heartbeat. Another realization was hitting him quickly, one that left him hopeful. "But that means she is alive, right?"

She had to be. The relief was immediate, like his soul had just found the light at the end of a very small and cramped tunnel.

He still had an opening. If he found her, the Shruti wouldn't stand a chance, she'd be home in time for dinner.

Irons crossed his legs, nodding again in affirmation.

"Yes, I can see that you are still connected to her." He tilted his neck to the side. "Concentrate, Gohan, if you look hard enough you'll feel the connection to."

Gohan digested that information, then closed his eyes concentrating as Irons had asked him to do. He didn't feel the connection at first, possibly because it felt so natural to him, like it always belonged there, but the longer he meditated on it, he started to notice. It was like another beating heart inside him, steady and rhythmic running in time with his. A rush of relief overcame him.

"I'll feel it!" he exclaimed. The beat felt so personal. So much a part of his being than he would have thought possible. But even so, he somehow knew, at that instant, that this heart was something new inside him. A natural, comfortable addition to his physiology that served as a connection to his mother.

"Amazing," Leo grunted, watching Gohan with his golden eyes, "I've never seen anyone touch the connection so quickly. You are truly a one of a kind person, Gohan."

Gohan snapped his eyes open and he reddened, rubbing the back of his head. He suddenly felt a little bit more like the old carefree self. Just knowing that his mother was alive gave him enormous hope. Sure, he had hoped for the best beforehand, but having a concrete confirmation put his worries much at ease.

Irons was not hesitant to bring Gohan back to reality. He seemed to have regained most of composure back, sitting straight with his hands folded in his lap.

"She's alive, yes. But for how long? She's in danger, Gohan, and we need to get her back."

Gohan dropped his hand from his head immediately, eyes darkening.

"Tell me what you remember about the attack," Irons continued. Gohan could see the wheels turning in the back of his head. "Maybe something useful will help us clue in to where she was taken."

"Couldn't you just tell me where the Shruti live? It seems to me that would be where my mother is."

Irons rolled his neck. "Perhaps," he drawled, "but that is the problem. We do not know their location. I would like to hear to the events. I'm still mostly in the dark as to what happened. Humor me, Gohan."

So Gohan explained the story that now seemed like it had happened years ago in somebody else's life. Irons listened patiently, giving away nothing with his expressions. When the story ended, Irons nodded his head once, as if confirming his suspicions.

"I expected as much." He glanced at Leo. "There is one way I think we could locate your mother." His gaze slipped back to Gohan. "Though it would be difficult."

"What is it?"

"The connection you felt with your mother. It is a link. Theoretically, you could trace her location by touching that link."

Leo perked up, bristling slightly in his seat. "That's impossible," he shot, shaking his head, his wild mane of hair twisting as he did so. "I have heard of only one case where someone was able to tap into that link. Even you, Irons, cannot do such a thing."

Irons shrugged. "True, but I'm not human." His thin lips smiled. "I believe Gohan is capable."

Gohan looked at them. For his mother he was willing to do just about anything.

He straightened his back, clenching his fists resolutely. "I can do it. I've already felt my mother's connection. I can do this."

He closed his eyes, readying himself to concentrate when he realized he was missing something. Snapping his eyes back open he asked. "Any suggestions on how this is done?"

Leo was shaking his head, but Irons met Gohan's question head on with annoying bluntness. "No idea. If you have not yet noticed Gohan, we are walking into new territory, it's all up to you. Trust your feelings."

Gohan gulped. None of this was sounding to promising. Still he had to try, the least he could do was try. Gritting his teeth and committing to it he closed his eyes, shutting the world around him off like a light switch. Irons and Leo melted from his awareness and like before, he dipped deep into his consciousness to where he felt for his mother's beat. It didn't take long this time to find it. The steady thumping went on just as it had before, its mere presence comforting his tenacious soul.

For a while, he just listened to the beat, letting the soft thump fill him. Then, he tried to track the beat. To find the link that would show where his mother was.

He could not find it.

It was as if it didn't exist. If it not for Irons insisting it would be possible, he would have doubted such a link was there.

Again, he tried, this time pulling more of his energy within himself. A warmness crawled inside his chest, his power wrapping and twisting around the heart, making the beat echo even louder. He leaned neared it, testing his mother's beat, looking for an outer connection, any sign of the origin of the so called link. But just as before he could sense nothing. In desperation, he fueled more power, his chest burned in response, feeling more like it was enwrapped in flames rather than sunlight. Gohan clenched his jaw against the pain. The thumps now echoed so loud it rattled his ribcage. It seemed impossible that only he could hear such a noise. Another loud thump and he shivered with pain, his mother's beat now horrendously loud. He could sense nothing more than her presence, but still no link.

Frustrated and desperate, he fueled the remaining of his power. A sudden hot, fiery wave exploded inside him, shaking him to the core. He groaned palms shaking.

And then, came the beat.

It rose to new heights of sound. It took over all thought and feeling, encasing all in its single monotonous and reverberating sound. His skull felt as if it would crack in two, his ribcage breaking open and shattering into a thousand tiny pieces.

It was everything he knew.

He slipped control, the pain becoming two intense, too jarring and mind-blowingly hot to handle. Consciousness started to drift away from him as the pain ebbed into the empty abyss of darkness. A blanket of nothing was swiftly covering his world.

He slumped backwards off his chair, hitting the floor with a loud crash.

A swirling sky and dark raving flashed before his eyes.

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"Get off me!" ChiChi screamed swinging tight fists frantically against heavy leather wings.

A chorus of laughter responded to her shrieks, and she tensed, tears escaping and flying down her cheeks in a mess of frustration. She flung hard to the right, knocking solidly into the abdomen of one of the creatures. Spittle leaking down his chin, he sneered. The crowd backed up, forming a tight circle around her as they laughed and hissed violently through their sharp teeth. ChiChi groaned, bending over her broken leg, her eyes wide in panic as she took in the horrifying sight of the bat-like creatures with their beady red eyes glowing in the dark.

In pained, quick gasps she shouted. "Who are you? Where am I?" The questions tumbled out of her mouth without preamble.

"Feisty," one of them muttered. ChiChi watched in contorted horror as his distorted face moved up in down in human expressions. Human expressions that seemed impossible to place on such a monstrous looking face. "The mother of the Golden One."

ChiChi paled, then snapped. "What have you done with him?

The laughter faded into sharp hisses, high pitched screeches that tore at ChiChi's eardrums.

The one who had spoken bent down suddenly with an unnerving fluidity and quickness to his movement. ChiChi recoiled sharply as his face leaned in closer to hers.

"We have done nothing, human," he sneered, hitching his weight to the back of his heels. The pungent breath that escaped his open mouth hung in the air and caused ChiChi to heave in shock.

"Minding our own business we were," he continued casually. A few grunted and chuckled their agreement. "When he attacked us."

The casual tone had all but escaped the creatures tone, he leaned forward again, his voice crackling with menace. "Killed my family, that monster. Now I'm going to do the same."

Sharp, curled talons clamped down on ChiChi's tender leg. He pushed down on it until she could no longer hold in a yelp of pain. The pressure caused hot stabs of knives to run all the way up and down her leg, testing the boundaries of her pain tolerance.

A row of jagged teeth filled her vision. She watched, disorientated from pain, as the mouth moved up and down forming words.

"Don't worry human. I won't kill you yet." He finally raised his hand, and ChiChi nearly sighed in relief. Not daring to look down at her, broken and bruised leg, she locked eyes with the creature, taking in heavy breaths to ease her sudden splurge of nausea. Gulping in breaths of air, she gathered her courage.

"My son will kill you before you even have the chance."

He snapped his jaws forward, his eyes wild, before he snapped back to calm. The creatures behind him snapped their wings as he stepped back toward them. "So you say," he muttered.

The snickers and laughter that followed his pronouncement tickled at ChiChi's ears like an annoying fly. She twisted her good leg beneath her and hugged her middle.

"There's no escape. You are in our territory now," he added after his large wings snapped open like a clenched fist unraveling sharply. The others followed suit, the sound of wings whipping open and catching the breeze filled the air. Suddenly, the heavy wing flapped forward, jerking the creature upwards, stirring up dry dirt around him. ChiChi narrowed her eyes against the flying debris, watching with a sense of gloom as the creatures took flight. The rose into the black sky, fading into shadows, their red eyes glinting like bloody stars.

She shivered against the oncoming loneliness and sense of despair, her fingers squeezing her unstable leg for support. It didn't hurt nearly as bad now, she sighed in relief knowing from the pull of her muscles and tendons that she had managed to set the leg relatively straight. Still though, her toes were starting to tingle, and she now sported four deep scratches from the creature's harsh grasp. Her eyes swept the landscape looking for a sturdy branch to splint her leg. The heavy darkness was unyielding, even with her adjusted eyes it was hard to see beyond much further than twenty feet.

It was going to be a long night.

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The bank was deserted. Grace peered over her desk once again, checking to see, for the fourth time, that there really were no more customers. Business usually went in waves, either they were swamped or there was hardly anyone in sight. She wondered if there was some sort of universal calling that led people to come to the bank all at the same time. Interesting theory, though she knew it was more likely due to people's common work schedules.

She glanced over her shoulder checking her fellow employees. They all looked preoccupied. Grace's good friend Sandy was across the room, shuffling through a stack of papers with one hand while precariously holding onto a very thick file with the other. Next to her Margaret sat typing away at her computer a firm frown fixed on her face. Feeling it was as safe as it was going to get, she clicked on the monitor in front of her and opened the internet.

Deciding to search for Gohan had seemed an easy enough job earlier this morning, but now that she sat with the word Google flashing at her in expectation she was beginning to feel doubts. Huge doubts. Granted Gohan was an unusual name, but even so she doubted simply typing in his name would procure any results.

She typed it anyway.

A new page opened up. A surprising number of results flashed up on screen. She scrolled down, quickly scanning the page. It looked like most of the links were articles on a famous martial artist nearly fifty years ago whose name was Gohan. That seemed unlikely, really unlikely. More out of curiosity than anything else she clicked on the first link. It was a website called Martial Express and contained an article about this Gohan along with a picture. Grace skipped the article, zeroing in on the picture. It was a dated photo of a young man with a thick mustache and an unassuming smile. Harming, but most definitely not her Gohan.

She clicked back, scrolled down and opened up the second page. The first article immediately struck her attention. She had to do a double take as she read the shocking title.

**Mysterious Disappearance of Mother and Son**

Shaking fingers managed to steady the mouse enough in order to hit the link. A picture of a small, quaint looking house popped up surrounded by a strange and disgusting patches of what appeared to be liquid tar. Grace stared a long time at the picture, trying to catch her racing mind up to what she was seeing. Finally she shifted her attention to the article.

**Earlier today, the disappearance of local residents, Son ChiChi and her son, Son Gohan was by the family's tutor, Eric Soplee. The two were found missing from their home around nine o'clock this morning when Eric Soplee arrived for his regular tutoring session with Gohan. The house showed some signs of struggle, but perhaps the most disturbing fact in this case was the strange liquid black substance that pooled around the house and across the Son resident's yard. Renowned chemist, Dr. Larner was invited by law enforcement to run tests on the liquid. From a quick assessment, Dr. Larner was unable to identify the substance saying, "This material is unlike anything I have previously encountered. Though I suspect it is linked to the disappearances, I cannot yet fathom what was the exact purpose it served." **

**Eric Soplee, clearly shaken by the incident, could also not offer any explanation to the mysterious substance, nor for the reason Mrs. Son and her son vanished. He confirmed with the police that they had made no indication of leaving and also went on to say, "I have no idea what happened. These are good people, Gohan especially was bright for his age. I don't understand what could have happened or why they would leave."**

**If you have any information on the whereabouts of either Son ChiChi or Son Gohan, please call the number below. **

Grace stopped, pausing with a stricken face as she took in the picture of Gohan and his mother at the bottom of the page. It was him, her Gohan. His spiky hair was askew, a bright smile on his face as he hugged his grinning mother. Grace glanced between the two of the them, smiling slightly at the clear resemblance between mother and son. She reread the article, her heart sinking. The dream had been correct. Gohan was in danger, she could hardly believe this was happening.

Grace fidgeted in her seat, knowing she had to do something. Sudden fraught urgency hit her. She ripped out a piece of paper from the drawer, scrambling with her pen to write down the address listed on the website. Clicking the website closed, she swung around of her chair, her purse and paper with the address clutched between her fingers before she realized she was still at work. She stopped, half sitting, half standing as she shot a glance up at the analog clock hanging on the back wall where a row of chairs had been set for waiting customers. There was still three hours left until she could go home. Should she risk it? Walk out of work without so much as a glance back?

Grace hesitated, her legs cramping from holding her upright in such an awkward position, unsure of what to do.

"Grace?"

Sandy's curly head appeared from around her stack of files, a curious expression on her face.

"What are you doing?"

Grace's head snapped up at Sandy. Suddenly realizing she was crouching at her chair, staring off in the distance like a dimwit, she shot straight up to her feet laughing anxiously.

"I'm really sorry, Sandy," she said, pulling her jacket from the back of her chair and swinging her purse over her shoulder, "family emergency.

"I've-I've got to go."

Sandy looked like she was going to say more when Grace rushed off past her wrenching open the exit door and hastily moving into the parking lot. She felt amazingly exhilarated, despite the trouble, she knew Gohan and his mother must be in, she was living an adventure. Grace, the uneventful middle-aged women was pulling off such a stunt. She threw on her jacket as she fumbled with the keys and speed walked to her car. Once inside she glanced at the address again, committing the numbers to memory. The car roared to a start and Grace peeled out of the bank's parking lot.

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	5. Ruby

A/N: I feel bad to admit that my updates to this story will probably few and far between now that college has started up again. To my fans, I just want you guys to know I haven't given up on this story, that I do have a direction I'm taking it in, but I just get busy during this time of the year. I sure many of you can relate XD! Anyway, I'll write when I can, and hopefully I see you soon!!

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Irons Monroe

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Ruby

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Gohan was first aware of the soft shuffling of a pair of feet fleeting past and back again near his head. They were light steps, those that belonged to a graceful person, slapping the floor with an air of confidence and vitality.

He breathed in deeply, filling himself with breath, the first he remembered taking in a long while. But as his chest expanded, welcoming the incoming oxygen to his lungs, a lingering ache protested against the movement, forcing out of him a quick exhale. The pacing stopped as suddenly as his breath hitched. He could feel the person hovering over him, waiting for something, maybe for him to move, a sign of life.

He was lying in a bed, he realized, a soft pillow nestled beneath his head and a smooth sheet over his body. The bed felt so comfortable, cradling him just right, and inviting him to turn off his freshly awakened consciousness and fall back into blissful eternity. He fought against that feeling, even against his unbelievable fatigue and dull burning in his chest.

Slowly, heavy lids opened up to life.

A large pair of eyes stared back at his. Ruby's. Gohan blinked. She had a curious expression on her face, somewhere between worry and surprise. Her long blonde curls draped over her shoulders, tickling the tip of Gohan's nose.

"Space?" Gohan muttered.

"Huh?" Her eyes remained transfixed on his

Gohan tried again. "Please back up?"

"Oh!" She lifted her head up two whole inches and smiled. "You're finally awake, I see. Everyone was worried. I don't know what happened, but Kenadal, I mean, Leo, said you had fainted. I don't believe him, of course. After what you had done in the Tome, anyway—Hey, are you okay?"

Gohan was idly itching his nose, still trying to wake up as he absently blinked up at Ruby. "Fainted?"

She straightened, much to Gohan's relief, and shrugged her perfect petite shoulders.

"Yes, well, that's what I'm told."

She sauntered to the end of his bed then slid her gaze back up at him. "Unless, you could tell me more? I have a very curious nature, you know." She smiled hopefully.

The bed was so comfortable, even with his eyes open, Gohan still wanted to fall back asleep. He idly amused himself by imagining Ruby's expression if he just decided to turn over, close his eyes, and completely ignore her. He imagined she would be pretty mad, so the whole stunt was probably not worth it. Even so, it was enticing, he hadn't been this tired in a long time. Ruby snapped her toes on the floor, growing impatient.

"Sorry, Ruby, that's all there is. Leo's right. I fainted.

"Have you seen Irons?"

"Again with Irons?" she muttered incredulously, "Is that the only thought that runs through your pea brain?"

She must have seen Gohan's expression because she stopped, blew out a huge sigh and sweetened up a bit.

"I'm sorry, that was harsh, Gohan. You're mother. I forget." she paced back up towards him.

"We're just all curious, you know. Irons refuses to get into any specifics, he just keeps saying that his original plan has been delayed. Whatever, that was. I can't believe he expects us to all hang around. I mean, we do have other things to do," she waved her arms over her head in a wide gesture, "you know, balancing chaos and all that."

"Balancing chaos...?" Gohan's sluggish mind was reeling itself in. He pushed himself a little higher up in the bed, so that he wasn't laying completely down. Irons wouldn't give him any answers. Leo talked in circles, avoiding specifics. But Ruby, well, she couldn't seem to keep her mouth shut. If there was any better time to really start understanding who everyone was it was now.

"Ruby, what do mean by that?"

She stopped, peeking over her shoulder and back at him, staying quiet for a long time, searching his expression with eyes that suddenly went bleak with seriousness. It was a quiet gaze, that left goosebumps raised on Gohan's skin.

"Why do you ask that, Gohan? Has no one explained to you...?"

Gohan didn't want to lose her, this could be his only chance. After a little a struggle, he managed to sit up straight, keeping his head steady and avoiding it lulling to one side. By her unsure expression he knew he would have this play this carefully.

"A little," he said finally, licking his lips and hoping he didn't look to eager. "But I'm not sure, I understand fully. Maybe if you explained, it would make more sense?"

She still looked suspicious, but her posture relaxed slightly. "Tell me what you know, and then I perhaps I can help you out."

Gohan stiffened. She got so tight lipped so fast! He shouldn't have been so blunt earlier, now he might never get his answers. He looked at her, at her clearly inhuman features, and sat befuddled. Gods? It was the first and only thing that came into his head, the only thing that made sense. A theory he passed around in his mind from the moment he and Irons had had that conversation in his kitchen so many months ago. How else could he explain everything. Gods, gods, but so many! He thought back to the dome Leo had brought him to, of the hundreds of eyes that had flicked their curious gaze on him. How the dome had been so filled with people, but felt empty of energy, at least any of the kind he could sense.

Gohan fiddled with the blankets on his bed for a long time. "I can't explain, I-I don't understand, Ruby. Irons, doesn't like questions."

Ruby tapped her upper lip with a polished nail. "True, I know that's true. You must be so confused, Gohan, I cannot even imagine. Your mother is gone, and all we do is drag you around and expect you to go along without any explanation. I apologize, I guess we do that sometimes, things that seem important to you are sometimes overlooked by us. We have...so many other worries.

"Please understand that Irons doesn't try to be ambiguous, he just is. It's his nature to remain unknown. But even, so, I'm not sure how much I could tell to you without going against what he wants. He may want to keep you in the dark for all I know."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Gohan protested sharply. "How can I help if I don't know what's going on?"

"I know. I know, but that is just the way he works. Don't forget, he's doing it to all of us. We don't even know why we are here right now."

She turned, crossing her arms, anxiously contemplating something. Gohan remained silent, hoping against hope that she would decide to fill him in. He watched in expectation, as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, weighing her options. Finally, she spun around, a smile clearing her anxious expression.

"I've got it!"

She walked up to his bed and laid her hand on his arm. "You tell me the real reason, you were laying in this bed for ten hours and I mean the whole truth, and I will answer all of you questions, the best I can, that is."

Gohan glanced at her. "That's it? I can do that."

"Brilliant!!" Her face glowed. Patting at his bed, she motioned for him to slide over and leave some room for her to sit down too.

She sat down, looking at him, arms folded neatly across her lap, with a level of expectation.

Gohan waited. "How do you want to do this?"

She rolled her eyes. "You ask one question, and then I ask one question, and so on. How about that?"

Gohan nodded slowly. "That seems fair."

Again, he fingered the blankets on his lap, sifted through the many questions in his mind. Which should he ask first? When the question hit him, he knew immediately it was the one he wanted.

"What is Irons?"

Ruby sighed, putting on a good show of looking annoyed. "I should have known you would ask that first. It's always about Irons."

"Ruby," Gohan interrupted.

"Alright, alright. I was getting there Gohan, be patient." She pushed her hair off her shoulders, and settled her hands back in her lap.

"Irons is the god of dreams."

Gohan, shot up straighter. Just hearing the word, god, seemed to put every in perspective. Sure it was a crazy, impossible perspective that made him feel like he was completely out of his depth, but still it was something. God of dreams. That would explain a lot about the strange dreams he had been having. But still...

"The god of dreams? Why do all of you listen to him, then? And is everyone here a god of something?"

"Uh-uh," Ruby ticked in, silencing Gohan. "One question, Gohan remember? It's my turn."

"I swear all of you are impossible to deal with," Gohan grumbled in annoyance. He would have to think of better ways to form his questions, before Ruby got all the information she wanted and left.

"Why were you unconscious?" she asked, smiling.

Gohan answered as ambiguously as he could. "I was searching for my mother."

"And how does that answer my question?" Ruby asked, a small amount of her own frustration seeping in.

Gohan smirked, "It does, now, only one question, Ruby. My turn."

She scowled, but conceded, not liking how her game had gotten turned back in her face.

"Everyone here is a god then," Gohan said carefully, "and you were all summoned on Iron's request, but you do not know what it is. Why did everyone come here and obey Irons if he is only the god of dreams?"

Ruby scowled deepened, fizzled out into incredulity, and finally rested on expression that barely restrained her patience, as if she was explaining the solution to a problem for the fifth time to a small child.

"Only the god of dreams?" she asked, contritely, shaking her head, "Irons is the oldest among us. He was here at the beginning. Over the rest of us, he yields the most power. Dreams can see the future. Dreams can control the human consciousness. He is, spiritually, the most powerful.

That, Gohan, is why we follow him."

Gohan nodded, unfazed by her anger. "That explains a lot, Ruby, thank you."

She jumped, looked at him, then back at her hands, as if they had betrayed her. "You are very sly, Gohan, I'll give you that."

Gohan smiled at the compliment. "Your turn then, I guess."

Ruby straightened so that she was facing Gohan more directly on the bed. "Okay, answer this. In what way were you searching for your mother that it caused you to faint?"

There was no way to avoid the question now. She had asked him directly, and it was only fair that he be honest with her. Gohan mentally sighed, knowing that after he answered this she would no longer need to question him and he could therefore no longer question her.

"Irons, he had introduced me to a technique involving the connection between the dependent and the anchor. I really don't understand it all, but, he said that because my mother is a dependent to me, I could feel and trace her connection through the link between us. That way I could find out where the Shruti are hiding her."

He stopped.

A sudden disparity hit him that he hadn't expected. His voice cut off in a low tremble. The burning ache in his chest still lingered, but the emotion of his failure hit him harder, sudden and fast. He hadn't had a chance to think about it yet, but now he realized. He had failed. He had tried every last bit of his power and he was still unable to follow the link between him and his mother. She was still lost, somewhere, helpless and alone with those demons. The thought was almost to much to bear. Almost without thinking he shut off his awareness to the room and to Ruby to find the matching beat of his mother alongside his, pushing through the dull fire that still lingered in his chest. Relief struck him when he found her beat. She was still there, still alive.

"Gohan?"

His eyes snapped back open, the ache subsided, his mother's beat drew away. "One question, Ruby," he said quietly.

She didn't argue.

"What are the Shruti?" Gohan asked regaining the strength in his voice, "Leo had called them demons, can you tell me any more about them?"

Ruby still looked concerned but she answered his question, smiling to herself at Leo's comparison. "Demons? I give Leo credit, that is not a bad assessment."

She glanced over her shoulder, checking to see that they were still alone. "The Shruti are not like us. We give life, restore it, sustain it. The Shruti feed on life. They are the souls of every evil man. When an evil man dies, they become Shruti."

Gohan wanted to ask more, but he withheld. It was more of a struggle now to wait for Ruby to ask her question.

"Were you successful in finding your mother?" It was a throw away question, of course. Gohan looked up at her, and saw the concern in her eyes. Something about the look felt so personal, like she fully understood his pain. Still Gohan's voice cracked, he couldn't find the words to spell his failure out loud.

"It's okay, Gohan, you don't have to answer, I can already tell." She patted his hand. "But don't give up, you hear me? That was your first try, you'll have others. You'll find her Gohan, if anyone can do it, you can."

He blinked and nodded. Then she smiled again, bouncing a little on her spot on the bed, and the moment was forgotten. Like it hadn't even happened. "Your turn, Gohan, ask away," she said brightly.

Gohan had to think for a moment to find his train of thought again before he came up with his next question.

"How come I've never seen a Shruti until yesterday?"

"Oooh, good question. The Shruti usually never reveal themselves to humans, usually they prey on them and their emotions without the humans knowing. If they reveal themselves to you, then you will see them always. That is why it is very rare for them do to so, but not unheard of. All those ghost stories you've heard of, well some of them might be true. Some people can see Shruti."

"So you're saying they have been around this whole time, invisible to us?" Gohan asked shocked. He had seen them, fought them, but still it was hard for him to absorb it all in. "If they are evil spirits like you say, then how is that I can kill them? Wouldn't they just vanish or something if I punched one?"

She smiled, but didn't answer. And this time Gohan did let out a long sigh. "One question, I know, I know. There is just so much I don't know!"

"I feel the same," she said, surprising Gohan. "I got one," her head tilted, similar to the way Irons tilted his when Gohan felt like he was analyzing him. "Did you kill Cell?"

Gohan's stomach hit the floor. Somehow he managed to keep the shock from registering on his face. He wouldn't lie, not after everything Ruby had shared with him, assuming it was all true. It was time to come out with it.

He gazed directly into her eyes, his expression flat and cool, anticipation danced in her own.

"Yes."

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Grace had gotten lost three times, but somehow, after finally asking directions several miles back, she had found Gohan's house. It was exactly like the picture in the article. Of course it would be, she didn't know why that even was worth noting. The house was small, quaint, and still surrounded by puddles of eerie liquid black. She shivered. It had been a weird day.

She was in the process of parking her car, when she noticed a man standing not more than twenty feet away from her, his back to her and facing the house shoulders tense and hunched. She cut the engine, pocketed her keys, and climbed out. The man turned when she shut the door. He had a pair of glasses perched on his nose, a solemn expression on his face.

"Excuse me?" Grace said, coming up to him, not wanting to seem too straight forward. "Did you know the Sons?"

"You're not another reporter are you?" the man said frankly.

Grace shook her head startled. "Me? No, no. My name is Grace," she extended her hand to shake his, he accepted. "I – well, I knew Gohan...sort of. He saved my life, actually."

The man nodded slowly looking surprised by her introduction. He had an honest look about him though, she liked that. "And you are...?"

"Eric Soplee, I was Gohan's tutor."

"Mr. Soplee, yes, I remember you were mentioned in the article."

"Yeah, that was me." He looked at her as if really looking at her for the first time. "Grace was it? May I ask what you are doing here?"

She anxiously raked her fingers through her hair. What was she doing here? Oh well you know, I had this crazy dream that Gohan was in trouble, and just had to check things out, and you? Yes, that would go over splendidly. "Gohan, well he saved my life."

"So you said. Somehow it doesn't surprise much, you know? He did have some sort of spark about him. Such an intelligent young man."

"You talk like he is already dead."

Eric shook his head, "I'm sorry, I don't mean it." He chuckled a little darkly, as he looked back out at the yard, grass coated thick in black goo. "I would have thought they would have cleaned this up by now. Perhaps, they're afraid?"

He was talking mostly to himself now, and Grace turned with him, walking up to his side, her fingers itching at the hem of her shirt.

"May I ask, what you are doing here? You weren't related to Gohan were you?"

Eric jumped in surprise, and shook his head slightly. "No, no not at all. I just, well, to be honest Ms..."

"Broussard."

"Ms. Broussard, I have no idea why I keep coming here. It wasn't like I was related to them, or something, but I come, for whatever reason, every morning, the same time I would come to give Gohan his tutoring lessons, and half expect him and his mother to back at their house waiting for me. Does that sound strange?"

Grace thought about the measures she had went through, not to mention the twelve hour car ride she had just driven. "Not at all. I think he just had that affect."

"Yeah," he said, "I think you are right."

They fell back into silence, and Grace took the moment to really soak in the house. It really was so warm, inviting, she could almost imagine Gohan and his mother, whom she had seen in the photograph, living quiet happily there. She wondered if Gohan had a father. Maybe he was divorced, or passed. The black pools of liquid did not belong there. They were dark and intruding on the otherwise welcoming home. In a way it made her angry. Who could have caused this? What had Gohan done to deserve this? And with that anger came another sweeping thought, one that almost staggered her to her knees. What was she supposed to do now? She wandered this whole way, without so much as a second thought as to what would happen when she got there. She was so stupid sometimes, so annoyingly unrealistic. And to make matters worse she had probably lost her job because of this wild adventure. And adventure with no end, just a very nasty and abrupt road block. She looked up at the sky, thinking about the her dream, how Gohan had just popped out into in the sky. She had come here because of a dream. But that wasn't right, right? This was more than that. He was missing. This young boy, who had saved her life, was missing, somewhere out there in this big world. How could she just forget about that and go back to 9:00 to 5:00 job!? He had to be found! Her eyes whisked across the landscape, this time more frantically.

"Gohan where are you?"

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"Yes."

Ruby stayed still, as if she hadn't heard him, as if the simple one word statement was still slowly sinking in. Then suddenly she jumped up off the bed in a big whoosh. Her hair bouncing up with her as she did so. She landed gracefully on the point of one toe and spun before facing back at Gohan and shaking his hand.

"I knew it, I knew it! This whole time!" she kept saying as she shook Gohan's hand up and down over and over again.

Gohan remained stiff not sure how to take in this turn of events. "It was nothing really," he heard himself mumble through shocked lips.

She slapped him aside the head. "Nothing indeed!" She laughed, "Gohan, you are too cute!"

"Ruby," Gohan spluttered, rubbing his head, still working to catch up with her energy.

She caught on, and slowed, releasing his hand so that she was no longer shaking it in wild gestures and stepped back. Still she was shaking a little, bouncing back from toe to toe. She could hardly contain her giggles. "Oh, Gohan, you have no idea how much we owe to you.

"If Cell had," she shook her head as if the idea was incomprehensible, "well suffice to say, we wouldn't be around any longer if the Earth was gone. You're a hero Gohan."

Despite himself, Gohan was glowing, his cheeks a rosy red. He had always thought that he didn't really need a thanks for, you know, saving the world, just the act of doing so would be enough gratification for him. But having Ruby glowing in front of him, thanking him, well, he would be pretty stupid to not get caught up in the moment too. It felt good. Really good. It was almost too much.

"Ruby, I-"

The door to his room opened and Gohan stopped mid sentence, his face still flustered. Ruby had stopped bouncing and spun to the door, the smile on her face refusing to go away. Leo entered, took four whole seconds to glance at the room, before he shut the door behind him, and turned back at the room's occupants, his face a stoic mask of silence.

Ruby bounded towards him. "Leo! I was wondering where you were!"

Leo side stepped her affection, raking a hand through his wild hair. "Ruby what are you doing in here?" he asked quietly, giving her a look of suspicion.

She huffed. "Is this how I am treated? I'm hurt." She turned, simpering on him. Gohan was kind of taken off guard by her behavior. She really had a crush for Leo, it was almost to embarrassing to watch.

"Don't you trust me, Leo?" she was saying.

"No."

Leo turned to Gohan, golden eyes quickly scanning his condition. "I see you are awake. How are you feeling Gohan?"

Gohan brushed the sheets off of him, he was still a little weak, but he no longer wanted to stay in bed. There was just too much to take care of. Finding his mother, on the top of that last, keeping Ruby quiet about his secret not far behind. He shrugged a little. "Alright, I guess. Can you tell me what happened?"

Ruby had stopped throwing mini tantrums in the corner and spun on Leo and Gohan, leaning her ear in.

"Not much to say, Gohan," Leo replied, "you were meditating for more than three hours, when suddenly you passed out. Irons and I weren't sure you were going to make it back to us."

Leo's expression softened. "I'm glad you did though.

"It's good to see you are up. Maybe you can fill Irons and I on what happened later?"

Gohan was still trying to work past the mediating for three hours part, because for him it had felt like seconds, minutes, maybe, when he heard Leo's last remark.

"Why can't we discuss it now?"

Leo shook his head, and that same expression that was on his face when he had entered leaked in. "Irons has decided to reveal his plan."

Gohan glanced at Ruby then back again. "You mean now?"

"Yes now," Leo straightened. "And he wants you there with him."

There it was again, that feeling like he was being used for Irons own means. But what else could he do?

"Do you think you can get up, Gohan?" Leo asked concerned. "I might be able to delay-"

"No, it's okay. I'm feeling better," Gohan interrupted as he kicked off the last of the sheets off his ankles and slowly inched his way to the edge of the bed. Leo was right beside him, his strong hand on his shoulder and arm in case he needed any support.

"Are you sure, Gohan?" came Ruby's voice from the other end. Goahn ignored her.

Hesitantly, his feet touched the floor. He thought for a moment as he pushed down that they might collapse under him, but they stayed strong, and quietly he let out a sigh of relief. As he took his first few steps, his old strength wound through, him, reinvigorating him and abolishing his fatigue. By the time he had made it to the door, he knew he would be alright. He gently loosened Leo's vase like grip from his arm.

"It's alright, I feel better now," he said gently to Leo's concerned face.

Leo was hesitant but finally nodded and stepped back, but Gohan could tell he was angling in close in case he suddenly decided to faint again. Like that would happen. But about that fainting thing, he wondered as Ruby opened the door, what had caused that? He hadn't felt this sort of fatigue in a long time, and it was like he had done anything, he had simply meditated as Leo put it. It seemed outrageous that he could be so exhausted from something as simple as that. There had to be more to it. More questions of course. Gohan sighed. He knew Irons probably had the answers to, but getting them out of that man, god, whatever, would be a task all its own. Gohan shook his head, he would have to think about it later. Right now, he had to focus on whatever Irons had planned for all these gods. What tremendous announcement did he have that required so many gods to come here in one room? And him to, why was he even needed?

He walked a little more slowly than usual, but kept his head up, his posture straight. To the observer as he passed by, it would be impossible to guess that he had practically just emerged from a coma. He steps were steady and confident, the fatigue pressing away to the corners of his mind with each step, that lingering burning in his chest, finally snuffing out.

Ruby skittered beside him, and threw a glance back at Leo.

"What do you think Irons has to say, Leo?" she asked.

Leo's deep voice reached Gohan's attuned ears. "Honestly, I have no idea."

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	6. Irons Plan

A/N: YAY! Another chapter.

LMAO HigitusFigitus thanks for pointing out the name change I did with Mr. Soplee. For some reason I completely forgot I gave him a name at the beginning. I changed it back, he will now and forever be, Eric. Lol.

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Chapter 6: Irons Plan

Back to the dome again, with a hundred gods watching as Gohan, Leo, and Ruby walked into the room. Irons was standing on higher ground across the room, his posture steady, hands slipped in his pockets again, waiting. The room was buzzing with impatient anticipation. The hundreds of gods eager to get the show moving. No doubt they had a million other things that needed to be attending. It was a wonder they had waited this long, especially considering the time Gohan had just spent in coma state. How long had Ruby said that was? Ten, eleven hours?

Gohan slowed his walk to get alongside Leo, as Ruby hopped ahead, looking excited about being the center of attention.

"What does Irons expect me to do?" Gohan whispered once Leo was beside him, his gut twisting with anxiety. He wasn't sure if it was feeling of a hundred eyes pressing in on him, or the speech Irons was about to give that made him so nervous. Probably both. To his right as he passed he noticed Lone, pressing in closer against the sea of other gods. Gohan wondered briefly what it was someone like Lone would do as a god, with those long finger nail like claws and disgruntled expression.

Leo was wearing his serious expression, every once in awhile shooting glances over the crowd as they made their way over to Irons. Without spoken command, the gods constantly parted for him, so that he, Ruby, and Gohan did not have to maneuver their way to the front. At times, so near to the floor and surrounded by gods, some towering near eight feet, Gohan could no longer see Irons as he stood waiting on the platform across the room. He felt a strange feeling of drowning then, wanting no more than to just float up in the air towards the high ceiling to pull himself away from the heavy crowds and careful watching eyes. He'd fly hard and high enough to burst through the ceiling of the dome and onward to sweet quiet serenity. Leo's gentle touch on his back elbow reminded him he was still on the ground. With a job to do, a mother to find.

Leo considered Gohan's question.

"Stand still, wear a smile, honestly I don't know what he expects from any of us."

For the first time Gohan really caught the tense expression on Leo's face. The way his heavy brow had folded closer together as they neared the platform Irons was standing on. Gohan tossed a glance up at the god of dreams, noting his once again cool and impenetrable expression.

"Do you think he is up to something?" Gohan asked, more quietly this time so that he was not overheard by the hundreds of gods surrounding them. He wasn't sure when suddenly Leo had become his confidant. It wasn't like Leo didn't keep his secrets from Gohan too like all the others, but he had a trusting way about him. Something more warm then someone, like say Irons, who seemed to have come from another universe. _That's probably not that far off_ Gohan thought contritely as he walked.

"Gohan," Leo began, "there is something you need to know about Irons." He fixed his gaze straight on the young saiyan. "He is always 'up to something'."

And with that they reached the platform. Ruby branched off, blending into the crowd of other gods, her expression looking just as welled with curiosity as everyone else around her. Leo climbed around, grabbing a fistful of tree roots to pull himself up to Irons' perch choosing to remain behind the god and closer to the shadows near the back wall. Gohan thought to follow Leo, but then just decided to jump up. He leaped to the platform without so much as a second thought, landing gracefully beside Irons before he too dropped back with Leo. It wasn't until he heard the crowd of gods ooh and awe at his show of acrobats that he realized that probably wasn't his best idea. Leo was shaking his head looking exasperated. Embarrassed Gohan turned to look at Irons, he saw that the god was quietly smiling at him. An expression that was disturbingly fatherly.

Gohan had to look away, and Irons turned facing the crowd below.

He swept his hawk gaze over them, penetrating each of the hundreds of gods with one steal crushing glance. In that moment, they were his, and he was their master.

He was the stunning potentate and it was unlike anything Gohan had ever seen. How the sweep of eerie, unfathomable silence had swept across the once pugnacious stadium. In the silence spelled doom, in the gapes of open mouths fell air. The lionized him, and in a great sigh, each exhaled their stolen breath and leaned forward, waiting, watching, and listening.

The way they held their breath, Gohan had half expected Irons to speak eloquently, but instead he spoke plainly. A tone that boasted a man of power, one who didn't need the flowery of words to get his point across.

"You all have been waiting a long time, I thank you for your patience," he waited as others in the crowd acknowledged his compliment.

"I have gathered all of you here for a reason. To speak of matters that have been troubling me for some time. Matters that need all your assistance and strength to handle and control. Many of you may be aware, many not, but something has been corrupting our world for some time now."

The whispered gasp that ran through the audience told Gohan that most had not been aware of what Irons was implying. In the audience he caught sight of Theo among others he had seen earlier. Some of them looked confused, others stayed quiet waiting for Irons to say more.

Irons continued. "The branches of Earth are on the brink of decay without end. Times are more desperate than you may be aware. There have been untold consequences as a result Cell's invasion. Cell was stopped, and we thought are troubles had ended. I too, thought we were safe. But we have been deceived, lured into false security, and blinded by the supposed safety of the world.

"I speak of the Shruti.

"Their numbers have grown tremendously outweighing the natural balance we have strived to restore and maintain. Cell murdered millions upon millions of humans during his climb to power. Though most were brought back by the dragon, every soul of an evil man despite being brought back, still live on in the Shruti.

"Their already vastly growing numbers have multiplied by millions. They outnumber humans, they outnumber us. It is a problem we can no longer ignore."

The stunned silence spoke volumes. Finally a voice spoke out among the crowd.

"And what do you expect us to do? Fight them?!"

Irons' spindly hands had weaved themselves out of his pocket and had now come to rest clasped in front of his impeccable suit jacket.

"That is exactly what I intend," he spoke quietly.

Leo nearly took a step forward, but restrained himself back to Gohan's side.

"A war between gods and Shruti. I should have known he'd bring us to this," he grumbled angrily. His protest was lost among many. Cries of angry proclamation, gasps of astonishment, some actual nods of agreement filled the room. Gohan glanced one way to the next, unsure what was unfolding before him. Irons wasn't moving to die down the crowd. Despite his claim of times being desperate, he seemed in no hurry. He only waited, dull blue eyes crinkled slightly in a smile.

He had expected this reaction.

Gohan turned to Leo, who was still tense but had mostly calmed down, or at least appeared to be so. His golden eyes still seemed to be slightly aflame, shimmering under the strange blue lighting inside the dome.

"What's the matter?" Gohan asked him, "What is happening?"

Leo shrugged tersely. "It doesn't matter now, Gohan. Just wait, Irons will explain more, I'm sure of it."

Gohan was unsatisfied with the answer but turned back anyway. Waiting for Irons to continue, to shed light on what was becoming a very strange speech. First they love him then they hated him. Couldn't these gods make up their minds?

"We have to follow him, Gohan," Leo said, as if he had read Gohan's thoughts. Gohan jerked his head up at Leo, meeting his serious expression.

"He is the oldest, we may disagree, but we will follow. It has always been this way."

Gohan was about to ask more on that when Irons spoke up again.

He kept his voice level, not raising it once, it made the gods quiet down in order to listen to what he would say.

"You and I, we all know the danger that the Shruti hold for us. We build life, they destroy it. We used to have balance between them, now the balance is shifting in their favor. They will destroy the world faster than we can rebuild it. I have thought through every option and have come to the same conclusion every time. Diplomacy will not work. History has shown us that. Waiting this out will not work. The problem will only grow, twisting until the seedling of the problem we know now develops into an unstoppable force. The only way to stop them, is to kill them."

"It's true!" One god shouted, he was pale and slick, clothed in black, and face spotted with blue freckles, "I've seen it myself. The Shruti are loosing control, showing themselves to more and more people."

The god shook his head. "It's terrifying, the way those creatures are behaving. They are becoming..." he stopped searching for words.

"Reckless, hostile, uncontrolled, yes," Irons interjected with a private smile. "Indeed they are Cobalt. Do not pretend, I know many of you have witnessed similar things."

They had quieted again. Some contemplating what he had said, others slowly nodding their head in agreement. Gohan caught sight of Theo, he was staring at Irons with a sense of fascination.

A god in the back looked unconvinced. He pushed aside some around him so that he could be more seen. "But many of us are not trained in combat! And we have no idea where the Shruti dwell or how to fight them! Do you simply suggest that we jump into battle without a thought to ourselves, simply because you suggested it?!"

The change in Irons expression stopped Gohan's blood cold. Always Irons had an expression of simple calm, sometimes even withdraw, but never had Gohan seen him show anger. The bitting fury that deviated his even features caused the god who had shouted out in protest to fall back several steps in cold fear. Gohan felt that empty space of energy that surrounded Irons seem to grow larger, like an expansive black hole eating up the existence of life around him. His dull eyes flashed brilliant intense blue.

"You'd do better watching your tongue, Damus," he snarled with unnerving calm, "or you will lose it."

The god shuddered backward, tripped to the ground, where others around him scattered outwards letting him fall hard to the ground. "Of course, forgive me, god of dreams, forgive me."

Irons ignored him, already moving on, his voice raised slightly. "Damus does bring up good points however. Points I have already considered." Irons said this with a bit more emphasis as his gaze cooled and he glanced across the room.

Suddenly he turned to Gohan. Gohan was momentarily too shocked to do much of anything, he was still recovering from Irons frightening personality change. It had been terrifying, enough to reduce a proud god to his knees. Only after Irons gestured, his gaze becoming more insistent, and Leo edging gently him forward, did Gohan shakily walk up to him to stand in full view in front of the gaping crowd.

"This is Gohan," Irons said addressing him to the gods. "He is my new bodyguard, and will help us find the Shruti's position. Among all of you, he has the most invested in this battle. For he is human, and his mother has been taken from her home by the Shruti," those who hadn't been around to hear this before gasped in shock at the new revelation.

"Do you see what these creatures have caused?" Irons questioned more loudly over the startled whispers. "What they are willing to do even now as we sit here? They are breaking the old laws that had been set between us for thousands of years, meddling with humans in ways that should never be allowed. We cannot let them go any further! We are gods! Its time we took control of this world as we once had."

The roars of agreement were growing.

"I'm not ordering you to join, not forcing anything out of you. I'm simply asking you. For I know one thing is true, that even if all of you decide to ignore me today, to go back to your tedious meddling, that Gohan and I will still fight, will still pursue to rescue his mother, still move to restore the balance that had once spelled peace. Restore the peace that had once made the gods the ultimate force on Earth!"

The gods were cheering, the dome shaking from their shouts, clumps of shaken dirt rained down on them, like a strange form of confetti.

Gohan was disconnected from it all.

He stood stock still, beside the most powerful god, the god of dreams, unable to connect anything that had happened. He didn't know whether he should be happy or angry. Satisfied or furious. He felt eyes on the back of his head and he looked back. Leo was staring at him, his face looked almost like Gohan was feeling. He crossed his arms, shook his heavy mane of hair, and half smiled at Gohan. It almost seemed to say, "I told you, he is always up to something."

So Gohan got what he wanted, he would rescue his mother. He would even have the whole legion of gods at his back there to help him, to make sure she was brought home safely.

So why didn't he feel happy? Why wasn't he relieved?

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"So this is how you treat a pregnant women?" ChiChi shouted at the air, at the insufferable silence and bleak darkness. "Leave her stranded, God knows where, with a broken leg and a pile of dog crap to eat!? Well thank you very much. THANK YOU VERY MUCH INDEED!"

Somewhere in the back of her mind, ChiChi was aware that she was yelling at no one. But yelling at no one had never felt so good. She figured she must be reaching the end of her tolerance for the load of crap she had been through because of those monsters.

The first few hours after they had left she had lived in exhausting fear, waiting, her whole body wrapped in tension, for something terrible to happen. Anything that made a sound in the darkness was an enemy waiting to jump her while she was weak. Worst she feared for the return of those creatures. The frightening image of them coming back cradling her dead son in their claw like arms plagued her, drawing sleep out of her, and just left her cold, clamy, slightly hysterical from the fear.

During that time she had managed to set her leg in a crude brace, and did her best not to move it, it felt best if she kept completely still. But being still for hours on end on the bumpy ground had left the rest of her body sore and crimped. She couldn't find sleep even if she had wanted to.

Finally the knotted tension and constant terror began to wear on her, slowly she gave in to her exhaustion. She was still terrified, scared of what might happen if she allowed herself to sleep, but it came anyway, without her consent. She had passed out.

When she had woken up, she had no idea how long she had been out. There was no way to gauge. Though she knew she was outside, in a forest, it didn't do much good for her, because the forest always remained dark. The sleep hadn't done much for her though, somehow she seemed even more tired. More drawn out. After scooting around a bit, trying to get a sense of her surroundings while keeping her leg as still as possible, she gave up and went back to sleep again. The second time she woke up there was a bowl of food beside her head and a bottle of water. She had gulped the water down. Then went for the food. They of course gave her no utensils, because that would have been far too civilized for this scenario, so she wiped her dirty fingers on her shirt and dug in. It was a cold, unseasoned, something and it tasted horrible. It was right about then that she had yelled at the sky.

She figured she should be scared, but there was no more fear left in her. Just cold exhaustion and bitterness for her situation. She was supposed to be sleeping in her comfortable bed, with a set of sheets beneath her and a pillow under her head. Not out in the wilderness that stayed eternally dark.

When Goku finds out about this he will--! That thought was stopped cold. Goku, Goku, her dear husband, he will never know about this because he is dead. Argh! that stupid man. He could have come back. He should have come back. But no! He had to train, yeah fight in heaven, leave his wife, son, and unborn child behind. That's how messed up her family is.

"Goku when I get a hold of your neck, I'm gonna!" she snarled as she wrung her fingers in the air imagining her husband's neck between them. But then she sighed. As hard as she tried she just couldn't stay mad at him long.

She fell back, plopping unto the hard soil, her arms spread apart across the dirt as she stared up at the night sky. That hole she had been left with since he died ripped open again. She wondered when the grief would become easier. If it ever would become easier. She wasn't sure she could take it any longer, that gnawing feeling of emptiness that ate at her insides whenever she thought of her husband.

The haunted image of Gohan thrown dead to the ground before her by those creatures flashed in her mind's eye again. Her body jerked suddenly in response to the unwanted image.

"Get a hold of yourself, ChiChi," she mumbled as soon as her body started to uncoil. Subconsciously her hand came to rest on her belly, gently comforting the child within. "That's not going to happen."

She had to believe it. Believe it with all of her might. Gohan would be fine, he is a big boy who can take care of himself. She glanced around. It was now time to think of herself. She had allowed herself to stew in self despair long enough. Allowed those creatures to have the upper hand on her for too long. The tree branches shivered in a slight breeze, and she sat up gazing around. What if they were watching her right now? The empty bowl and glass seemed to be testament to the fact that they at least must be near by.

If she was going to play captive, so be it. But she was damn well sure she was no longer going to play it easy. It was time to make these creature's job a living hell. In the forest's quiet she smiled.

This could be fun.

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	7. Quickening

A/N: Hey thanks for all the great reviews! As always they are SUPER appreciated. Anyway, I know this chapter is a long time coming, so I made it extra long, cause you know I'm awesome. Plus, got a few more characters from DBZ thrown into the mix. SWEET. Till next time ~

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Irons Monroe

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Chapter 7: Quickening

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"Okay, give me theories."

"Theories? What are you talking about, Ms. Broussard?"

Grace snapped her figures, gesturing wildly out to the puddles of black goo to an unimpressed Eric. "What do you think happened here?"

Then she added as an afterthought with a bit of a frown. "And don't call me Ms. Broussard, okay? It makes me feel old."

Surprised, Eric half smiled before he turned to address the problem Grace was currently pointing to. After a moment, staring out and remarkably ignoring Grace's intense and expectant gaze, he lightly shrugged as he turned towards her. It was a gesture that caught Grace by surprise because of simple frankness of it. It was also the kindest move she had seen from him since she had arrived.

"Okay, Grace," he said, letting the name linger in such a way that it caused her to smile, "I'll be honest with you."

She hooked a strand of stray hair behind her ear. "Go ahead."

He lifted his hands, then let them fall in a hopeless gesture. "I have no idea what happened.

"Just look at it. It's all so, so disturbing. And I'm not just talking about the black puddles or that huge crack in the ground by the house. Gohan and his mother, well, they were kind people, full of life. I keep asking myself what happened to them and gone through hundreds of questions and scenarios in my head, but I always come back to one conclusion."

He rubbed his arm.

"That whatever happened, whatever is happening, it is not of this world, at least a world that you and I are aware of. It just can't be. I know it sounds crazy to say something like that, but, well, look at it Grace, how else can you explain it?"

He was shaking his head, looking embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I hardly knew the kid, and I'm obsessing over it. Coming up with fairy tales to cover---"

"No," Grace cut in gently, "you're right."

He looked at her, and she blushed a little under his raw gaze. "At least, that is how I feel, too."

And the moment she said that, she knew that she really believed it was true. How else could she explain the dream that warned her and know this? It was hard to conceptualize, that she was here, willing to accept a supernatural theory from a complete stranger. And yet, as the words stumbled out of his mouth, she had found herself nodding in silent agreement. It was so strange, it felt right. Seemed almost the natural explanation among all the unnatural occurrences.

Eric was nodding slowly, in silent thanks at her acceptance, her understanding. Suddenly, it didn't seem like their were much of strangers anymore. They were two crazy people who found they shared the same hallucinations. Despite, everything they had found common ground.

Grace cleared her throat awkwardly, feeling sudden hotness on her cheeks. Was it her, or did Eric seem to be looking at her differently, with a small smile on his lips. Again she coughed, she wasn't in grade school anymore, for goodness sakes! She was a grown women! She grasped for a subject change, turning quickly to the lawn below to hide her glowing cheeks.

"So, uh, do you want to help me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Find the Son's, find out what's going on," she emphasized.

"How are we going to do that?"

She smiled at how he had already put it as 'we', before actually considering his question. It wasn't over a matter of giving up, she wouldn't even consider that now. She was here for a purpose, at least that is what she would like to believe, and she was not going home. But now she needed direction. Someone to simply point her the right way so that this progress could begin. If only it was that easy.

Again she looked at the house, a whirl of wind threw the broken front door open. Grace glanced up at the sky and smiled.

"Guess we start with the house."

Eric was already shaking his head. "It's taped off, don't you see it from here? It's still under police investigation."

Once upon a time, that would have stopped her.

Now it excited her.

She walked briskly down the hill, briefly glancing over her shoulder as she moved. "You are coming right?"

Eric looked stock frozen for a second, before his feet unlatched from the the ground, and he started following behind her.

"I can't believe we are doing this!" he grumbled. "This is illegal!"

"Eric that is hardly the point. We are doing it to find Gohan and his mother."

"Yeah, I guess. You are most unusual, you know that right?"

She had to stop in order to zig zag around the black liquid at her feet. His statement nearly caused her to loose her footing. She had a sudden thought of what might happen to her body if she fell into that liquid. Acid buring her fleshing, biting straight through muscles, bone, and marrow. She seriously needed to lay off the late night reading of blusterous adventure novels. But back to his statement.

He had called her unusual. It was the greatest compliment in the world.

They had to make a wide circle around the front yard to avoid the black puddles to get to the house. Yellow tape was wrapped around and pulled taunt at the door which was falling open on broken hinges. Grace ducked beneath the police lines with Eric at her back and entered the small, quaint home.

Her head lifted, taking in the room when she fell back with a sudden, sharp gasp, nearly hitting the floor. Eric caught her against his shoulder, and they both stumbled back a few shaking steps. Each sucking in panicked breaths as they stared with wide eyes at the figure in the room.

A tall green man, arms crossed across his expansive chest, was standing in the middle of the room and staring straight back at them with a cold, calculating gaze. Grace took in his confident posture, his clean white cape, sweeping out behind him, his fixed scowl. But mostly she saw the dangerous look about him, how his sharp muscles bulged and tightened, and as she looked she realized she recognized him. One of those strange fighters at the Cell games. It wasn't hard to miss the green tint of his, she had thought then it was just the color off on her T.V., but now she realized, her T.V. had been more than accurate. He was very green. Green, dangerous, and looking very pissed off.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously. His voice was deep and impatient. Grace felt her knees buckle just a tiny bit feeling extremely dwarfed by his enormous stature.

She was still working on reeling back in her voice, when she felt Eric steady behind her gaining a confident footing.

"We should be asking you the same question," he began boldly, "this is a crime scene!"

If she hadn't been so terrified, she would have laughed at the green man's incredulous expression. Instead she nearly wilted into a fray of nerves. "Eric," she whispered, "have you lost your mind?"

"I will ask you one more time," the green man continued, voice growing more commanding, "who are you? And what are you doing here?"

Eric cracked his mouth open again, and Grace panicked, jumping up with her hands held out in defense as she bumped Eric further back.

"Nothing! We are doing nothing!" she interrupted, high-pitched and sounding frantic, trying to placate the man.

She wanted to choose her next words carefully, for all she knew he was responsible for Gohan and his mother's disappearance. That thought caused her anxiety to spike a few levels.

He was glaring directly at her, she gulped, feeling a small bead of sweet trickle down her forehead.

"What I mean to say, is that we are friends of the family, and we came to see what happened, and you startled us that's all!" she was laughing nervously.

She held out her hand. "My name is Grace."

He looked suspiciously at it, an eyebrow raised.

After a few seconds, she realized he wasn't going to accept her hand shake. Shakily she let her hand fall, wiping the sweaty palm against her pant leg.

Eric stepped back up at her side protectively hooking an arm around her elbow. If she hadn't been so nervous she might have noticed this small gesture.

"And I'm Eric Soplee, I'm Gohan's tutor."

The green man's steely exterior cracked ever so slightly. He smirked shortly at Eric's introduction.

"A tutor, somehow I'm not surprised. ChiChi is not one to waste any time."

"If you mean with Gohan's education, then yes. He is a very devoted to his studies."

The man half laughed, looking amused. "Right."

"Are we going to get your name?" Eric questioned after a pause in which the man, seemingly deciding that they were no threat, had went about observing the interior of the house.

His back was towards them as he glanced into the first bedroom. "Picollo," he grumbled, and then added as he turned smirking, "I'm Gohan's trainer and he is very devoted to those studies too."

Eric did not look amused.

"Trainer?" Grace whispered quietly.

Piccolo shrugged and looked at her. "How do you know the Son's?"

Grace swallowed. "Gohan saved my life."

Picollo seemed unmoved by her proclamation. He just stared at her, like he was evaluating some sort of problem. Finally he said, in a more quiet, reverent voice.

"Gohan has saved a lot of people lives."

The statement was more to himself than anything. His expression had gotten suddenly distant, like her and Eric were no longer in the room. Just him, his towering figure cloaked in faded memories and private sorrow.

"What do you mean?" Grace asked, her voice equally as distant.

Again, he ignored her question, but his head snapped back up, the distant look all but gone from his eyes.

"Do you know what happened here?" he asked.

"Only that they disappeared," Eric said in turn, he was shaking his head, "nothing more."

Picollo grunted, then pushed through them looking out the door, his focused gaze missing nothing, tracing every curve of the landscape.

Grace was fascinated by it. His sharp and intense movements were captivating. He turned and walked back into the house, again ignoring them as he moved around searching. Looking for anything out of order, any over turned book, misplaced paper. She could see the clouded concern beginning to crawl up on his unusual green features as he paced with heavy steps that somehow evoked a certain amount of grace. This wasn't a man she should suspect in Gohan's disappearance, she decided after watching him for a moment. This was a man she should trust, for he clearly cared for Gohan.

"What are you doing?" she finally asked, after a few more minutes of watching his search.

"Clues," he grunted, surprising Grace with the upfront answer, "Gohan wouldn't just leave without telling us. Something has happened."

Grace nodded slowly. "You knew him well, then?"

Picollo stopped moving and recrossed his arms.

"Yes."

His terse face frowned more deeply, as he again scanned the room with a shift in his gaze.

"I'm sure you noticed by now there is no obvious sign of struggle within the house, except here."

He walked to the door, and Eric and Grace followed him, peering around his enormous shoulders as he pointed.

"Do you see this here?"

Grace's eyes followed his long sharp tipped finger. He pointed towards a burnt edge of the door near the broken hinges.

Eric adjusted his glasses, leaning in for a closer look. "What is it?"

Picollo scrapped a long fingernail against it, rubbing off bits of smut. "Residue from a ki blast."

"Ki blast?" Eric asked.

Picollo heaved a long and irritated sigh. Just as suddenly he lifted his hand. A bright, ball of light expanded there, crackling with unseen energy, casting yellow light around them. Then it burst out of his hand, soaring across yard and hitting hard into the center of a tree trunk some distance away. The tree shattered under the blast, heaving over in one great sigh, before collapsing to the ground in a pile of dust, branches, and scattering plumes of fire.

"That is ki," Piccolo muttered simply, lowering his now normal, well as a normal as a green arm could get, back to his side.

Eric and Grace stared open eyed, mouths agape, at the destroyed tree then back at an unconcerned Piccolo. Slowly, Eric pulled off his glasses, wiped them, replaced them on his head, before he was able to close his mouth.

"Huh," he stuttered blankly.

"Yeah," Grace agreed breathlessly.

Piccolo cleared his throat. "Anyway," he continued, louder this time in order to regain their attention, "it means there was a fight."

"You mean someone came in the house and did _that_ to Gohan?" Grace gasped in a frightful stammer. Her hand came to her mouth, the thought was beyond terrifying.

Piccolo waved his hand, as if to impatiently wipe her statement away. "Hardly.

"I'm guessing this was Gohan's handiwork." Picollo smiled to himself, "It's got the kids mark all over it."

Grace was reeling. "Oh, of course."

She was trying to take this all in stride. But she felt as if the ground had just exploded beneath her. Here she thought she had a grasp on the supernatural, when all of a sudden, this green man shows up and decides to throw it all back in her face.

Her image of Gohan was shattering. Could he be just as scary as Piccolo? As menacing? She tried picturing him shooting those ki blasts from his hands, but the imagine was foreign. Beside her, she noticed Eric staring with the same shocked expression. Her stomach knotted tight, like it was wrapped in a dozen knots pulled taunt by sailors. They had both gotten themselves into something much bigger then themselves.

Tentatively, Eric's hand raised, pointing at the pool's of black liquid just beyond the door.

"Then, do you know what that is?"

Piccolo exchanged glances with both of them.

"Blood," he finally said.

"Blood?"

Eric shook his head unbelieving, the scholarly part of him coming through. "How is that possible? I mean its black, pitch black."

"And mine is green. You're point?"

Eric's face fell. His hand went to his head and he made a breathy laugh, sounding on the edge of mental breakdown. "Yes, I see now. Of course yours is green and we have blood in the front yard, gallons and gallons of it, just sitting there. Pooling about. And how did it get there?"

"I don't know."

Eric threw his arms up into the air in utter confusion.

"Well of course, you don't know. That would have been too simple," He continued, exasperated. "That would explain too much!"

He was shaking now, completely besides himself. Like a man who had just found the end of his limit, then without consent, was forcefully shoved past that carefully drawn line. Grace fidgeted nervously at his side.

"Anything else you would like to share, Piccolo? Any other divine secrets? Because right now, I can tell, I'm more than just a little freaked out! Okay?!"

Piccolo's arms folded, he looked all the more menacing for it.

"I'm only telling you what I know."

Eric laughed. "Ha! Right." He looked like he was going to say more, but Grace cut in quickly.

She gave him a reproachful glare and didn't turn from him until she was certain he gotten the message. To Piccolo she said. "You must forgive us, Piccolo, it's just we are having a hard time grasping all of this, you understand.

"I have no doubts your friends to Gohan and his mother, we are to, and we just want to help."

Piccolo murderous expression simmered a bit. He was about to say more, when something distracted him. He looked up at the sky, and Grace followed his gaze, but whatever it was he was looking at, she couldn't see. It was just blue sky, a few lazy clouds, a bird in the distance.

And then, the strangest thing happened. And by this, Grace meant strange, because really, she was standing by a large green man who had just shot firebolts out of his hand. The silhouette she had mistaken earlier as a bird, was coming closer, and the closer it got, the more she realized she wasn't looking at a bird, but a...she could hardly believe she was thinking this, a man. He was soaring through the air, defying that thing she had learned about in grade school. You know, gravity.

Piccolo walked out of the house, ducking under the police line, to greet the flying man. Hesitantly, Grace and Eric followed. Eric was no longer brimming with anger, his face had gone white as a sheet. She thought that if he had been past breaking point earlier, than he must really be lost now. He took a few stabilizing breaths, while his eyes never left the approaching figure.

The man landed fast and hard, the ground breaking up beneath his booted feet. He had a similar scowl to Piccolo's, emphasized by the sharp angular curve of his eyebrows. Jet black hair shot up behind him, crowing off at a spiky point. The amount of hairspray just to keep it in that shape, Grace awed. Muscular biceps crossed, mirroring Piccolo's own posture, and he looked up at the green man with nothing more than a derisive frown.

"I'm surprised to see you here Vegeta." Piccolo said.

Vegeta shrugged, looking agitated.

"Bulma, that infuriating women, said she read an article that said Gohan and Chi Chi are gone. She insisted I come. Check up on things. Like that stupid boy needs babysitting," he half chuckled to himself, "it's embarrassing."

Piccolo just stared. Vegeta shot a look over his shoulder at Grace and Eric.

"Who are they?"

Piccolo waved them off. "Apparently Gohan knows them."

"Apparently." Vegeta's gaze cut away from them, before they had even focused. He took in the rest of the scene without so much as an eyebrow raise. "Where is he then?"

That's when Piccolo paused. "Not sure."

Vegeta smirked. "You can't seriously be suggesting those articles are true?"

"I don't know what to think."

The man laughed. Well, it was more like a short chortle, because Grace had the distinct impression that this guy didn't laugh too often.

"Unbelievable.

"How has that boy managed to get lost? I mean," he shook his head, scoffing, "really."

Piccolo only frowned, deeper. He clearly didn't find the situation nearly as amusing as Vegeta. Grace glanced between the two men, unsure how to approach them.

"Uh, excuse me?" she began sheepishly.

Vegeta turned with agitation. "What."

She could feel herself shrinking under his penetrating glare. Black eyes. Now that she thought about it, they were very similar to Gohan's. Unusual really, those black eyes. She tried shaking off the feeling, cleared her throat, and began again.

"Can you help us? We are trying to find Gohan."

He appraised her evenly.

"And why would I do that?"

"Well, uh, well, don't you know him? I mean aren't you related? Or something..." she trailed off at the look on his face.

"Related?" he exclaimed, "heh, no.

"Besides I'm sure wherever Gohan," he put unnecessary emphasis on the name, "is, he is fine. I'm not his stupid father. He can take care of himself."

"Your leaving then?" Piccolo questioned. His voice sounded neutral, but Grace thought she could tell he was disappointed. "What are you going to tell Bulma?"

Vegeta snorted and turned his back on the tall green man. "That no one was home."

Piccolo sighed. Grace thought that for a moment he was going to let Vegeta go, instead he persisted.

"Normally I would agree with you Vegeta, that nothing is wrong. But this is different."

Vegeta had turned back to face Piccolo with raised eyebrows.

"There has been a fight here, and now Gohan and Chi Chi are gone," Piccolo continued, "don't you find that strange."

Vegeta was silent for a moment. To Grace's surprise he was unmoved by Piccolo's proclamation. She was liking this man less and less.

"As strange and as interesting as all this is Piccolo, I just can't quiet get myself to care," he sneered. "Now if you will excuse me, I have a lot of training to do."

He made a move to turn, but Piccolo grabbed his elbow. The movement was lightning fast, too quick to track. Vegeta looked crossly down at Piccolo's hand, before meeting the other's eyes.

"You will let go of me, Namek," he said deadly serious.

A dark energy seemed to be coming from him. Though Grace couldn't see it, she could swear she felt the air get colder. She leaned just a bit closer to Eric, he in turn, wrapped an arm around her sleeve. She had a hollow feeling that if these two guys really went at, she and Eric would not survive the brawl.

"I'm asking for your help," Piccolo countered, his tone no less serious. If anything his grip tightened.

Vegeta's posture had gone stiff with rage.

"What is there to help with?" he hissed. "Whatever it is, it's not my problem!"

He wrenched his elbow free.

"You owe him," Piccolo said quietly.

That seemed to catch Vegeta. He froze, looking at Piccolo with an expression somewhere caught between outright rage and defeat.

"I'm not staying," Vegeta spat finally, changing the subject. "Besides, for all we know, he's on vacation."

Piccolo looked at him seriously. "And left behind a field of blood?"

For the first time, Vegeta really took a good look at the nasty pool of liquid around his feet. He was silent for a long time. Then bent down, and pressed a finger into the liquid.

After bringing it up close to examine, Grace saw him make the smallest of nods, as if to confirm Piccolo's theory. He wiped his finger on the clean grass.

Piccolo pressed forward, taking advantage of the other's silence.

"I don't know what's going on, but it isn't right. Gohan may be powerful, unbelievably so, but he still just a boy. A boy who has just lost his father."

Vegeta remained silent, coming to a stand slowly. Grace watched the exchange, nearly holding her breath because she was afraid one sound would undue the precarious balance between the two. Eric stood equally as silent.

"He needs our help," Piccolo said.

Then more to himself than Vegeta, "We shouldn't have left him alone."

Grace stared. Piccolo's carefully constructed look of indifference, had cracked just a tiny bit. She could see the aching worry in his face and something else. Guilt. It was then that she realized just how important Gohan must mean to this man. She thought she knew before, but not like this. No, this was intense, heart wrenching, it nearly stole her breath away.

Piccolo quelled into silence. Vegeta was expressionless standing straight as an arrow as he considered Piccolo's words. It seemed a lifetime before he finally replied.

"What's your plan then, Namek?"

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It was god boot camp.

Gohan was standing on the sidelines, arms crossed, eyes narrowed in the type of fixed concentration he had once used when watching his father battle Cell. His feet were spread wide apart, watching as the two gods clash in arms. Around him, were others, some doing individual training or sparring, but the majority of them were enveloped, just as much as Gohan, in the fight that was before him.

It was unlike anything he had ever witnessed.

Gohan had quickly learned that gods fought differently than humans, or saiyans, or really anything he had encountered before. Their style was unusual, because on the technical level they were not physically strong. Most were stronger than Shruti, yes, but not by any great length.

That in itself came to a surprise to Gohan. Of all things, he had imagined that gods would be powerful. Majestic creatures able to crush thousands in one mighty swing, to spur fear into the hearts of people. It was not as he imagined. The image of a faceless creature, splitting the land with one pound of his rock-like fist, vanished immediately during that first day of training.

He soon found that they all had their own signature. Some fought with fists, others with their mind, even more using the elements around them as a means of attack. As the one god had said during Irons speech, some, if not most, did not even know how to fight. It was a headache in itself, just trying to bring out the best of each of their individual skills because of their diversity. And yet, this is what Irons expected.

He wanted Gohan to train them. To teach them what he knew so that they would be ready for battle.

It had almost seen like an impossible task, until now. As we he watched these two fight, it gave him hope. They were talented. They would inspire the others.

They crashed again, brutally against the hard floor, stirring up chunks of debris and clouds of dust, as they slid. Theo was on top, he had his fingers locked around Cobalt's throat, his knee deeply embedded in the god's stomach. And then Cobalt vanished, appearing behind Theo as quick as a wink of an eye. It was a trick that they all knew. Gohan supposed it was a variation on instant transportation, a move his father had learned. It allowed the gods to teleport instantly, anywhere they wanted. For most, it was something they intermittently used for travel because it was a trying skill, and took all lot of energy. The first thing Gohan had taught them was how to adapt that skill to a fight. Using it as a means of escape or surprise.

Only a few had perfected this technique to the point that it was equal to Gohan moving at top speed.

A flying chunk of rock distracted Gohan from his thoughts, he dodged to the side, avoiding the rock by inches. By the time he looked back at the fight, Cobalt was down, his heaving chest visibly moving up and down from where Gohan stood fifteen feet away. In blink the fight was over.

Theo stretched in victory as he sucked in large gulps of air, some of the gods around him clapped and cheered. Gohan relaxed, giving Theo a half smile. In his haste, the god nearly returned it, but then a glint was in his eye. After helping a distressed Cobalt from the ground, he shook off the hands that had landed on him in congratulations and walked up to Gohan, rolling his shoulders in the process.

He smirked.

It was a grin that reminded Gohan of Vegeta, just before he was about to pummel you into the ground. It was meant to scare him, and it would have worked on anybody else. But Gohan wasn't anyone else. He had seen and fought more evil than should ever be allowed for for someone who is not yet even a teenager.

"What did you think of that, Gohan?" Theo asked still grinning with a mouth full of pointed teeth.

Gohan merely smiled.

"It was amazing Theo." And he meant ever word. "Truly, I'm impressed."

If Theo appreciated the compliment he didn't show it. His biting smile closed into a hard line. He addressed Gohan again, taking advantage of all the eyes watching them.

"I think it's your turn to fight, Gohan, don't you?" he drawled.

"We have been training for some time, and still you have not lifted so much as a finger. I would like to see a demonstration of your skills. Or are you afraid to test your strength against gods?" he gestured out to the crowd among them. "Don't be. We are all so curious to see the fantastic capabilities of Irons' new bodyguard."

Gohan was half tempted to take up Theo's offer. But what good would that do? Theo had just proven himself as a powerful fighter. Gohan knew it sounded cocky, but he would beat Theo unless the god had a whole lot more tricks up his sleeve. Beating him at his height of confidence, would degrade him. Prove him weak. These gods were preparing for the biggest fight they had seen in centuries, he wasn't about to make them lose all their confidence by beating one of their toughest fighters.

"Well Gohan are you just going to stand there?"

Gohan forced a cheerful laugh, trying to keep the mood from darkening. "Oh come on, Theo, you don't need to fight me. Haven't you proven yourself enough?

"Besides, I'm not all that great. Mortal against god, that hardly seems fair."

Some of the gods chucked, but most looked disappointed. Ruby hadn't spilled Gohan's secret, for that he was grateful, but it still didn't seem to matter. These gods were all still curious about him. Theo was being truthful, they wanted to see what he was capable of. Gohan rubbed his head self consciously, in the pressing silence.

"Really, you don't want to fight me," he added weakly.

A careful eyebrow arched. "Oh but I think I do," said Theo. He turned to the crowd. "What do you say? Who wants to see Gohan fight!?"

A clap and thunder of agreement followed.

"Come on Gohan!"

"Yeah show us what you're made of!"

Gohan nervously laughed. Oh what cruel déjà vu was this? It was like the first time he had met all of the gods and they had argued his identity. Except now they were all yelling at him, encouraging him to prove himself. They certainly loved to use peer pressure to their advantage - it was quickly spiraling out of control.

"Go ahead, Gohan." A voice said behind him, close to his ear. Gohan whipped around. It was Leo, and he was smiling, golden eyes glowing.

"I can't Leo."

The god shook his head. "I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong. I've seen your strength, you have nothing to fear. I think it will inspire them more than anything else."

"And what about Theo?"

Leo looked speculatively over at the cocky god. "Just make sure you don't kill him," he said after a moment.

Gohan tried frowning but he couldn't stop his small grin. "I'm being serious," he managed.

Leo laughed, "So I'm I! Listen, he'll be fine. Sure he'll have a bruised ego for a few days, but I'm pretty certain he needs that," Leo gestured back at the god who was now grinning like a fool as the hordes of other gods cheered his name and gave him shakes of encouragement.

"And when this is done, he'll work harder than he would ever have before."

He shrugged. "Sometimes defeat is good for a person, even a god."

The crowd was getting louder, a chant forming in their cheers. Gohan. Gohan! GOHAN!

The cheer filled the dome, and Gohan couldn't help but get caught up in it. His heart fluttered in his chest, a finger twitching anxiously at his side.

A smile filled his face, it seemed like forever since he had last fought anyone. Now he would get the chance to fight a god.

Over the roar he agreed. "Alright, I'll do it."

Leo nodded back, grinning. "Good luck."

Gohan half laughed. "Yeah thanks. Here goes nothing."

His first step towards Theo caused the chant to erupt into wild cheers. The gods clumped together forming a circle around them. The gods were finally getting the fight they'd wanted. A fight between god and mortal. A chance to see Gohan's ability.

Theo stopped waving to his admirer's and turned back to Gohan with a cruel smile.

"Well, I see you have changed your mind. I thought you never would."

Gohan grinned. When was the last time he had felt this good?

"I admit it, you convinced me."

The rumble quieted as the two faced off. Every single god was watching, every single one still with anticipation. Gohan glanced quickly around, Irons was the not there. It didn't matter. What mattered was this. The fight before him, even the spectators were lost in his concentration. It was just him and Theo.

Then Gohan powered up.

A jet of air shot up, swirling around his prone body, kicking back the dirt around him. His black hair swayed back and forth and he clutched his fists, settling into a fighting stance his father had once used against Cell. He didn't take it up to super saiyan, but the effect was still powerful. Near awe-inspiring.

Across from him, Theo was doing his own thing. He flattened out his palms, holding out his arms straight in front of him, like he was drawing in some type of energy from the air. Then he yanked back hard, and a streak of light followed.

"Let's do this," Theo said, determined. He disappeared.

A split second later he was behind Gohan, arm already extending in a punch. But Gohan was ready and he ducked, smoothly, effortlessly, beneath Theo's swinging arm, before springing back a few paces. Theo looked momentarily surprised.

Gohan smiled.

Theo thought he had the advantage of surprise. His lack of energy should not allow Gohan to sense him coming.

But Gohan had adapted.

At first, he had assumed the gods just couldn't be sensed. That had all changed when Irons unexplainable lack of energy had expanded when he was threatening a god during his speech. Suddenly, Gohan realized that he was looking at it all wrong. Everything had energy, its own life force, even the ground. When he was next to a god, there was nothing. A distinct blankness. All he had to do was sense for the energy around the hole. Because there was nothing, he knew they were there.

Theo was charging, his slick red hair flying out behind him. He made to swing right, then disappeared. Gohan swung hard around again and dodged Theo's sudden attack from behind. Theo vanished appearing above Gohan, plummeting down with a cocked fist. He feinted, disappeared, reappeared at Gohan's feet, sweeping his leg low and Gohan darted left. Still in mid kick Theo vanished. And again, and again. Reappearing and disappearing with more rapidity then he had ever shown in his previous fights. Each time he attacked, his fist, foot, whatever he came with swinging, it missed Gohan by mere inches. But each time, he seemed to be getting closer. The more he moved the harder it seemed for Gohan to keep up.

Again Theo feinted, jabbing in and out like a bee waiting to strike. He picked up his pace, but instead of overwhelming Gohan with his speed, Gohan only increased his to match it. They were now moving back in forth from the stage faster than a blink of an eye.

Leo watched from the sidelines, a small smile playing on his lips. By the tight concentration shown in Theo's form, Leo knew the god intended to win it all. He couldn't help but be impressed, even if it was Theo.

But even now he could see the god was going to lose. Gohan had not yet countered. He was playing it out, waiting for his opening. If Theo noticed this, he didn't show it.

"They're incredible, aren't they?"

Leo glanced over to see Ruby standing next to him. She must have somehow pushed her way to the front. She wasn't looking at the fight, she was looking at Leo.

Leo didn't answer immediately. He watched as Gohan made yet another impossible dodge, narrowly avoiding Theo's fist.

He made a non committal grunt.

Ruby pushed her falling lock of hair out of her eyes.

"I mean, how does someone get that fast? A human, too."

She chuckled like she had a secret.

"Theo's going to be so embarrassed. He deserves it you know? I really was getting tired of that blown up ego of his."

Leo looked at her carefully. Her green eyes dazzled with knowing, before she broke the gaze, intently studying her nails, trying to look nonchalant.

The crowd oohed at a particularly eye catching move and Leo sighed, heavily.

"What are you talking about Ruby?"

Her smile was nearly infectious. "Oh nothing. I've just got my money on Gohan winning, that's all."

"Why? You don't trust in a god's ability?"

She laughed. "Oh hardly that!"

Then she smiled fully, giving a glance up through heavy lashes and lowering her voice, "Don't play stupid with me Leo, we both know who's going to win this fight."

Leo supposed he shouldn't be surprised, Ruby did always have a knack for getting the right information. But damn, if he couldn't stop the stupid surprised expression that crossed his face.

Ruby got a kick out of it though. She giggled again. Leo smiled along.

"I knew you were up to something when I saw you with Gohan," he accused halfheartedly.

"Yeah well," she pulled her hair over her shoulder. "its not like you think. He's a sweet kid. I was really more there for moral support. The comforts only a motherly figure can provide."

"You aren't his mother and you can't have kids."

She pouted. "Must you be so literal with me all the time? No fun."

Leo rolled his eyes. Another whoosh of air flashed past them, and he returned his attention to the match. They had just shot past them, back towards the center of the ring. For a moment he caught Gohan's eyes. He looked thrilled, completely enjoying himself. A stark contrast to Theo's tight expression. He attacked with a convicted authority as Gohan simply dodged in and out of the powerful blows.

"So what did he tell you?"

Ruby gasped looking offended. "What!? You expect me to spill his secrets! His sacred trust!?"

"Ruby..."

"Really, Kenadal, when did you become such a gossiper?"

"It's Leo now, and," he just shook his head in defeat, "never mind."

Ruby smirked.

"Anyway, I'm sure he'll tell you eventually, that is if you don't already know." She elbowed his side gently and leaned closer to whisper in his ear. "He trusts you, I can tell."

She winked and Leo only blinked back in surprise.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash and gasp from the crowd. A cloud of smoke rose up near the center of the ring. Leo narrowed his eyes trying to look beyond it to see Theo and Gohan, but it was too difficult to see much outside of the smoke and dust.

Slowly a figure emerged, his shadow shimmering like a mirage in the thick plume of grey smoke. The entire crowd was silent, watching. A second later, and the figure was revealed to be Gohan.

The boy walked out of the smoke, dirt and a few rips on his clothing, but without so much as a scratch on his body. He looked calm, with hands relaxed, swinging with his steps as he moved. Leo glanced around for Theo, but the god was nowhere to be seen even as the smoke cleared. Gohan looked around too. Even from Leo stood, he could see the look of confusion dawn on Gohan's face. Theo was nowhere to be found.

He must have phased out. Did he leave the fight? Or was he hiding?

"Did you see what happened?" Leo asked Ruby in a whisper.

"No," she whispered back, "only the explosion and then this."

Some of the other gods had started glancing around, their confused whispers echoing in the dome. Gohan did a full turn, taking his time to search every corner of the room.

"What do you think Theo's up to, Leo?" Ruby asked as she too looked around, peeking over the shoulders of a massive god with spiked broad shoulders across from her.

Leo was quiet for a moment considering. There was no way Theo would just give up during a fight. He had to be somewhere in the room, waiting, waiting for the right moment.

He cursed, suddenly realizing what had to be the god's plan.

"What is it?" Ruby asked suspiciously. "What are you thinking?"

Leo shook his hair and scanned the room quickly before replying in a low voice so that no one around them could hear. "He's taking advantage of all these gods in one room."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Gohan can't sense us in the conventional sense, but even so he somehow he has figured out a way to avoid every move Theo has thrown at him." Ruby nodded. "At some point, Theo must have noticed this and come to the conclusion he needed a different approach. So now he is using this room of gods as a cover."

"Meaning?"

"With so many of us around there is no way Gohan could pick Theo out from the crowd. It would give Theo the perfect opportunity to use a long attack."

Ruby gazed at Leo for a long moment before shrugging her shoulders. "It won't matter," she said securely. "Whatever Theo's got, it won't matter."

Leo didn't say anything, his attention went back to Gohan.

They boy paced the circle gazing every which way.

"Theo!" he called out, "you didn't give up did you? Where are you?"

Silence greeted his questions. He half turned, confused. Even with all the gods, the dome had fallen eerily silent in the wake of the explosion. One moment he had been fighting Theo, the next the god had vanished. This time, not returning for another attack. Gohan breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. Maybe, just maybe he could sense Theo out. That was, assuming he was still here. Gohan reached out for a long time, even straining his ears for a sound. There was nothing, not that he had expected more. The room felt distinctly and uncomfortably empty. Again he glanced over his shoulder, searching to see the gods face among the crowd.

Where was he?

He caught sight of Leo, he too was glancing around, beside him Ruby was watching him. She found Gohan's gaze and smiled. Gohan hesitated, smiled self-consciously back at her, then turned around.

Suddenly a sound like a clap of thunder exploded through the room.

A jet of lightning hurtled at Gohan at neck breaking speed, the aim true, heading straight for his chest. Around him, the crowd yelped in surprise, nearly drowning out the sound of the bolt. And then Gohan saw him. Theo's face lit up under the blast sizzling out of his open fingertips. The god's expression was furious, blood curling, determined.

He meant to kill.

To dodge would leave the gods around him exposed to the bolt. He had to stop it. He had to stop it!

It was coming faster then he had time to think. There was no time, it was already almost upon him.

He threw up his hand, a desperate gesture, and pushed. The bolt connected, in a splash of shocking electricity and flickering light, grazing the flesh of his hand. The power of it slammed him back several feet, his hair splaying out behind him, his feet sliding across the dirt ground. Gritting his teeth, he raised his other hand and pushed out with that one as well. For one terrifying moment, it looked like he was going to loose it, that the lightning would overcome him. And then, Gohan screamed.

His black hair shook then shot up straight, golden, and yellow. A huge crash of energy exploded out of him, the ground heaved downwards in response, a small canyon forming around his feet. Some of the gods fell back, pushed backwards from the sudden and intense wave of power. Golden waves surrounded him, pulsing upwards to a tip. He clenched his hands, and the driving bolt, diminished in his display of power, expanded and burst into a thousand shimmering slivers of light.

The explosion echoed in the dome. The gods all looked on with wide eyes. Slowly, Gohan lowered his arms.

Guess his secret was out of the bag.

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AN: Whew, please tell me what you think!


	8. God of Dreams

A/N: And so the story continues, I want so badly to update faster for everyone, but I feel so bogged down with other stuff, and well, school comes before fanfics :( But I continue on!

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Irons Monroe

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Chapter 8: God of Dreams

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The fight was over. Not because Theo had been beaten. To the contrary, the god was standing off to the side, with the wildest expression of hatred and awe on his face. And he was in awe, because he was watching something he had never seen in all the years of his existence. A room of gods all practically worshiping this kid, the mere, insignificant human, before them.

Gohan's hair still shivered golden, his feet were still wide apart, buried under flecks of pebble where he had sunk into the dirt. And slowly he smiled, awkwardly at first. Then buried his hand into the hair on the back of his head.

The room had erupted in cheers.

Ruby was the first to make it to him. She grasped his hand in hers, grinning and winked at him. Then others smashed into them, all wanting to touch Gohan, to offer their congratulations.

"That was the most fantastic sight I've seen in a long time," said one god, he was short, maybe a few inches taller than Gohan, and had impossible fish like features.

Others agreed with the sentiment.

"Knew it was you!" one declared proudly, as he shook Gohan's hand fiercely. "Knew Irons would choose no one less than the kid who killed Cell."

"Yeah, sure, Node," said another as pushed the proud god aside, "Except wasn't it you who were saying just yesterday, that this body guard amounted to a pile of nothing!?"

Node reddened. But if he was going to argue, he had no room for it. The swarm of gods kept sweeping in, swallowing up Node as they pushed themselves closer to Gohan.

"Anyway," the other god continued, "we all owe you."

"Heh! Yeah, but when gods say that kid, you can bet it means squat!"

Some close to him laughed, clapping hands on his shoulder.

"Really remarkable."

"--does it stay golden?"

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"Theo, deserved what was coming to him, with that trick--"

"--Shruti don't stand a chance!"

Gohan could really only stammer. Mutter a few intelligible things. He was blushing, cheeks glowing hot red. Having Ruby know, that was one thing, but this? It was too much. He was embarrassed, but it went further than that. He had always been happy that Cell was defeated, but in a way, in a small part of him he didn't let anyone know about, he was ashamed. Because even though he defeated Cell, he should have done it sooner. He should have tried harder. Pushed himself more before Cell was given a second chance. What he had done, no matter how great these gods thought it was, it hadn't been good enough. Because he knew, deep down, that it was his fault his father wasn't here. His fault too why the Shruit and gods were so unbalanced. I should have stopped Cell earlier. Stopped him before he had killed all those people. I don't deserve this.

"Hey!" a hand shook his arm, "you with us?"

Gohan hadn't realized he had zoned out. He shook off his blank demeanor, forced a smile.

"Yeah, uh," he stopped, and the gods all seemed to slow down in response, waiting to hear what he was going to say. Gohan swallowed. "Thank you, for all this. Really. I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything."

All heads turned to the speaker. It was Irons. Of course it was Irons. He had this way about him, that could completely de-construct a moment, somehow making everything come back to him. Where he stood was a newly formed path, the gods had stepped back, opening up so that he had a clear view of Gohan in the crowd.

"I need to speak with you Gohan, you don't mind hmm?"

"Do I have much of a choice?" Gohan grumbled to himself.

Irons merrily shook his head lightly. With a simple glance around the crowd, the gods got the message and started to disperse, not without their fair amount of muttering and glances.

Gohan sighed and powered down. His golden hair returning black.

"You'll have to show us that technique later, Gohan!" One god shouted, laughing.

Gohan gave a distracted smile.

Irons raised an eyebrow at the god, then turned his attention back to Gohan.

"Walk with me."

Gohan sighed again and followed Irons as he walked to a small tunnel leading out of the dome.

They walked in relative silence, and as the silence went on, Gohan started twitching with anxiety. He wasn't sure what Irons wanted, and it made him nervous. What was he going to say about the fight? Did he approve beating Theo, or was he upset? It wasn't an easy thing to tell with Irons. The god's emotions were just to hard to predict.

Gohan tried to get a closer read on his face, without looking to conspicuous. He peeked up through his bangs at Irons, who was walking a half step in front of him. The god looked unconcerned.

"Any luck with your mother?" Irons asked suddenly.

That completely caught Gohan off guard, and he nearly faltered a step. His mother...Irons would remind him of his failure. Ever since he had collapsed during his first attempt to find the link, he had been afraid to push himself that far again. He still spent every spare moment he had meditating on his mother's beat, trying different approaches but to no avail. What was expected from him? He had tried all of his strength and it hadn't worked! It was frustrating, endlessly so, because she felt so close, and yet so impossibly far away.

He shook his head dully in response, and thankfully Irons didn't see the need to push the subject.

Grasping for something else to talk about, Gohan turned back to his first train of thought.

"You're not upset, or happy, or anything?"

Irons seemed distracted. "Hmm? About what?" he asked, as he slowed down to a stop.

"About--!?" Gohan balked, "I mean all those, people, gods, whatever...they know about me and Cell now. This doesn't mean anything to you?"

Irons shrugged. "They'd find out eventually. Like Ruby did."

Gohan didn't even bother asking how he knew Ruby guessed the truth in the first place. He just stared at Irons in disbelief. Irons didn't seem to notice, he had a far off look, smiling wistfully.

"Though, I have to say, Gohan, you did show it with style." He nodded. "Yes, that was quite the showing."

Gohan growled and clenched his fists. "It wasn't on purpose."

Irons shrugged his shoulders and continued walking.

Gohan followed, but was feeling irritated. He felt like a dog on a leash, and he was sick of it.

"What is it you wanted?" he asked not too kindly.

"To talk."

"Yeah. _Right_."

Irons halted, and spun so fast, Gohan nearly lost track of the movement. Eerie blue eyes snapped onto his.

"Must you be so obstinate, Gohan?" His tone settled. "I only want to know how you are handling things, I know you have a lot on your shoulders."

"...how I am handling it?" Gohan bit out. Was this guy serious? Did he forget who put all that weight on his shoulders in the first place?

He felt like yelling, it was probably the only way to get his point across with Irons. He hardly noticed his fists were balled up tight. Breath, Gohan. Breath. He reminded himself. Slowly he looked up into Irons face. He needed to be clearheaded, he needed to control his anger.

He exhaled slowly, and asked a new question.

"What's your big deal with the Shruti anyway?"

Irons just raised his brows. "I thought you already knew the answer to this Gohan, it is the same as yours."

Gohan's carefully constructed patience was shattering before he had even finished building the base.

"You seriously expect me to believe that?" he snapped.

And for once Irons looked at him in surprise.

"I haven't forgotten it was your fault they were at my house in the first place," Gohan grounded out.

He'd gone for the jugular, he knew it. And he was amazed at how pleased he felt at Irons shocked expression.

Irons licked his lips.

"We've already talked about this," he replied quietly.

"No, no we haven't. I may not be a god, but I'm not weak either. Or stupid."

"I know that Gohan."

"No, I don't think you understand." Gohan circled, his voice becoming more determined. "This big war you are planning, Irons, it all rests on me. You said it yourself. You need me to train these gods. And me to find your enemy. If you trust me with that, than why haven't you trusted me with the truth?"

Gohan stopped pacing, and looked up at Irons.

"Start giving me answers or I'm leaving."

Irons' did not look angry as Gohan thought he would. He looked...thoughtful. He leaned forward, ever so slightly, causing the lines in his suit to crease.

"Answers, Gohan, that is what you really want?" the god's voice sounded far away, but Gohan didn't hesitate.

"Yes."

"Do you remember my rule?"

Gohan's face scrunched. "You mean that stupid one about not asking questions?"

"Yes, that one."

"I thought we were beyond that."

Irons smiled, his dull blue eyes had suddenly gotten a lot brighter. They were a clear blue, like morning sky.

"We can be beyond it, if that's what you decide, Gohan. I'll ask you one more time, do you really want answers?"

Gohan hesitated this time. There was something about that look in Irons eye. It was enchanting, almost mischievous. Even though he was so sure this was what he wanted, he paused, only for a second, to reconsider. Maybe Irons was trying to warn him. Maybe there was more to this than Gohan knew, and Irons was protecting him by keeping him in the dark, maybe...just maybe... And then, amidst his cloud of doubts he thought of his mother. He had to help her, and he couldn't do that until he understood why she was gone in the first place.

"I'm sure," he answered squaring his shoulders.

"Alright then," Irons closed the gap between them in two steps and placed his fingertips on Gohan's forehead.

"This is what you wanted," he whispered into Gohan's ear.

Before Gohan had time to think through that statement, he felt a sudden and extreme fatigue. His body going weak and slack, his knees nearly buckling. He felt as through his eyes were swimming inside his head. He tried to focus on one thing, but his vision was tunneling, his consciousness slumping against the fatigue.

"What are you...?" he slurred.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he was aware that his knees had hit the floor hard.

"Relax, Gohan," Irons' whispered, and the voice sounded closer than it should have. It was echoing inside his head. Gohan didn't listen, he tried resisting the voice, tried to stay awake. He threw his heavy head back, and managed one last glance at Irons before his eyelids closed and he collapsed.

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"You're telling me you have no plan," Vegeta growled.

Picollo didn't back down from the tone. "I've told you Vegeta. I don't know where to start."

He gestured out to the sky. "I can sense Gohan, but its like, like he's not on Earth."

Vegeta tapped his foot impatiently. "What, so he's on Namek or something?"

Picollo shook his head, frowning hard in concentration. "No, no, he's here, but not...it's hard to explain."

"Well, clearly, because you're not making SENSE."

Grace watched the two of them argue, and couldn't help but feel a little let down. Even though she didn't understand much of what they were talking about (apparently Piccolo is telepathic or something), she knew they were going in circles. They were pretty much as clueless as she was as to how to find Gohan. She would be the first to admit that it was very disappointing.

Suddenly from behind her, Eric grabbed her elbow. Tight lipped, he led her back to the front of the house and out of ear shot of Piccolo and Vegeta.

"Grace what are we still doing here?" he whispered as soon as they were far enough away.

She shrugged out of his grip. "Trying to find Gohan, or have you forgotten?"

"No, I haven't but..." he hesitated. "Do we have to trust them?"

"Do we have a choice?" she shot back.

He didn't have much to say back to that, instead he embarrassedly avoiding her gaze.

"I know, I know, I'm just frustrated. I don't know what to do," he confided.

Grace silently agreed. They were at another dead end, this one seeming more discouraging then the last. Eric plopped down on the grass, leaning his back against the wall of the house, and never moving his eyes off Picollo and Vegeta. Grace joined him, and absentmindedly picked at a strand of grass that was growing at a weird angle by her leg. She watched the two strange men argue for a little while, wondering what type of lifestyle Gohan must have led in order to meet people like these.

"Eric," she asked after a while.

He glanced at her.

"You were Gohan's tutor, did you have any idea who he hung out with?"

"No, all I really saw was his mother, and she seemed normal enough."

Grace nodded, fully understanding what he meant by that. Because these two men, who clearly said to know Gohan, and one, in Picollo's case, who seemed to care deeply for him, were far from her or Eric's definition of normal. In other words, Gohan and his mother had appeared to be like a decent, loving, well, normal family living in a rural area despite their, uh, acquaintances.

"No dad?"

Eric shook his head. "Recently passed."

That was what Picollo had said too. Grace felt a sudden sweep of sadness for the young boy. Losing a close family member at such a young age, had to be tough. In a way Grace could relate, even if was only a tiny bit. All of her immediate family had passed. That had meant a lot of holidays spent alone. She wasn't complaining, it was something she was used to by now, practically the norm. But for Gohan, his wounds were still fresh, and a father, well someone like that can't ever truly be replaced. It really was a sad thing.

"Eric," Grace began again, this time in a small voice. "I have to tell you something."

Eric turned to her this time, looking concerned.

"Grace what is it?"

"Remember earlier when I told you Gohan saved my life?"

He nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Well that happened, it did. But it was bizarre, for the longest time I wasn't even sure if maybe I had imagined some of what had happened."

Eric was giving her his full attention now, and she had to look away a second to regain her train of thought.

She took in a deep breath. "It was late, and I thought I would just walk home from my friend's party. But I got turned around and then..."

She trailed off, breathed, started again.

"There was this guy, and he had a gun." She quieted, remembering how he had dragged her into the alleyway threatening to put a bullet in her brain if she didn't do what he wanted.

"He wasn't happy," she said, which was pretty much a the hugest understatement of the year, "I didn't have much to give him. And then...he fired, and out of nowhere Gohan was between us."

Eric stared at her in shock.

"He ran up in front of the gun?"

Grace was shaking her head. "Yes, and no, it was like he appeared. One moment I was sure I was going to die, and the next, there he was, looking quiet calm, and asking if I was okay.

"The man had thought the gun had jammed, but now I'm not so sure."

Eric was quiet for a moment. Grace could tell he was trying to take in everything she was saying in stride.

"Are you saying Gohan's bulletproof?"

Grace sighed frustrated and shook her head. When he put it that way, it just didn't seem right.

"I don't know!" she confessed exasperated. "But look Eric, does it really seem that far off? I mean you saw what that Picollo did, and he said he was Gohan's trainer. I mean, maybe all that stuff at the Cell games wasn't just smoke and mirrors like they want us to believe. Maybe it was all real."

Eric didn't answer immediately, and Grace took it as a sign to continue. "After that, Gohan took the gun and..." she hesitated, "...well he took the gun and bent it in half. Actually more like crumpled it in his one hand."

"..."

"I know! I know! I sound crazy, but this is what I saw, and I don't know what else to tell you but-!"

"No, Grace. It's okay. I believe you. I guess its my turn to anyway," he smiled genuinely.

Grace quartered turned, almost unbelieving at his sincere expression. Yet, still the relief of his acceptance was immediate.

"You do?" she asked, just to make sure. Yeah, she knew she was milking it for all it was worth, but hey, it felt good.

Eric was laughing. "Amazingly, yeah I do. After today, how could I not?"

Grace laughed too, and it was almost like she had forgotten how good it felt.

After a moment, she sobered up, once again thinking about the problem at hand.

"This wasn't a simple kidnapping then," she said finally putting to words what she had thought all along.

"Never really thought it was," Eric agreed.

She leaned back against the house. "What are we going to do?"

Eric just shrugged his shoulders, and gestured out to Vegeta and Picollo, who were still arguing heatedly.

"I have a feeling they really don't want us around."

Grace reluctantly agreed. "I know," she sighed, "but there has to be something we can do."

Eric didn't say anything, he kneeled over and reached for the black liquid.

"What do you think you are doing?" Grace squeaked.

He touched it. Nothing really happened. It just felt gooey, the same consistency as blood. Yuck. He wiped his finger on his pant leg.

"Ugh," Grace muttered as she watched him wipe off the blood, "was that really necessar---"

But then she stopped, like her jaw had locked up. And her whole body stiffened.

"Grace are you okay?"

She didn't respond, she just started trembling. Her eyes widened in pain, and then her head jerked back so hard that for one crazy moment Eric thought her neck had snapped. Instead her whole body went limp, and she slumped into the grass face first.

"Grace!"

Eric frantically grabbed her shoulders and rolled her onto her back.

"Grace! Can you hear me? Grace!" He shook her urgently, but she wasn't responding. Her eyes were glazed over like she was caught in some sort of day dream, staring unseeingly into the sky.

He shook her again, this time more forcefully. But she felt limp in his hands.

Eric never remembered being this terrified in his entire life.

"Grace!?!" he shouted again.

Picollo and Vegeta ran up towards them.

"What's going on?" Vegeta demanded.

"I don't know! I don't...we were talking. And she locked up. She passed out!"

Picollo knelt down beside Eric, and gently pressed his fingers to feel her pulse at her neck.

"She's alive," he said, looking her up and down.

"What's wrong with her?" Eric yelled.

Vegeta and Picollo didn't respond. They shared a glance, frowning.

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Chichi tentatively leaned her full weight against the self made cane, a wide tree branch with the fabric from her sleeve bundled tight for padding under her armpit. It held and she let out a sigh of relief. Now at least it would be easier to move around. Her eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, to the point where she could what was in front of her. Thank goodness for small miracles. She patted the small pack, fashioned from branches, leaves and her shoelace, that contained the food the creature's had been feeding her. She had been told that it was hopeless to try and escape, but since no one was around to stop her, she figured the hell with it, she might as well go for a walk and see how far she could get.

Randomly she choose a direction, and started hobbling. Her broken leg still burned and ached like crazy, but it was getting more and more tolerable as time passed. Besides, the pain was the least of her concerns. She had one goal in mind, get of here and find Gohan. She knew that he was alive. Somehow, motherly instinct maybe, she felt it. A deep warmth in her belly that told her his heart was still beating. But beyond she didn't know where he was or how he was doing. Despite her reassurances that he could take on the creature's no problem, she couldn't shake that image that haunted her mind's eye. Of them dragging her baby's lifeless body across the forest floor. It unnerved her more than she thought possible. And so she walked, ignoring the pain and gritting her teeth with all the determination she needed to escape this eternally black forest.

Chichi was rounding a tree, when she heard the snap of fluttering wings. She stopped and pressed herself hard against the trunk, making herself as small as possible. She waited. It was possible she had imagined it. That all this time alone had caused her to not be as sharp.

But then it snapped again. And this time she was sure. She lowered her breathing, and scanned the sky looking for the creature's outline and distinctive red eyes. She didn't see anything, but that didn't calm her nerves. It only meant that he was somewhere she couldn't see. Bending slowly she curled her fingers around a long stick near her feet. The firm branch gave her reassurance. Show yourself, she thought.

Leaning around the tree, she glanced up again, and saw it. He was circling above, his black form almost invisible in the night. She grip tightened around the branch. Don't engage unless necessary, she had to remind herself. It looked like he was getting nearer, and ChiChi was becoming more aware of her beating heart, hoping that it was only her that could hear it. She hugged even tighter to the tree, watching and waiting.

And then, she locked up. It was sudden and scary. She couldn't move. Her head was the first to fling back, her body followed, and she hit the ground convulsing and filled with rabid fear. What was going on?!

She went still, and felt that warmth in her chest, that quiet reminder of Gohan's existence, blink away. It left her cold, raw. A tear leaked from her eye. And then darkness took her.

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A/N: Ooooh what did Irons do to Gohan? Let me hear your theories – and so you guys know, I do have a plan, but I'm always open to suggestions and ideas.


	9. Stuff Hits the Fan

A/N: Well we are nearing the end. That's right people, the climax is building! So I suggest you get those reviews that you've been holding back sent in while you still can! Unlike LOST all of your questions will be answered. Peace.

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Irons Monroe

Chapter 9: Stuff Hits the Fan

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Gohan rubbed his eyes, slowly rolled to his feet and shook off his deep fatigue. He was in that dream again. With the dark ground and constant churning sky. The silence seeping into his pores, and pushing in on him like its own ever present force.

He was beginning to hate this place. Hate its quelling silence and repetitive scenery. Why would Irons bring him here?

Oh no.

What if Irons was only leading him on and this was a trick. What if he was meant to stay here trapped forever! He shouldn't have tried bribing a god. Gohan, you idiot. You egomaniac. You just had to threaten the most powerful god in existence.

He was going to go mad if he stayed here. And he remembered Irons last words to him.

_This is what you wanted._

He was positive this is exactly what he did not want. He cursed, loudly. Or what he was sure would have been very loud if there had been sound.

"Fascinating aren't they?"

Gohan spun.

Irons was squatting by the cleaved ravine, his slender fingers twisting with the whispering white mists that spilled out of the it. For the briefest of moments Gohan felt enormous relief before that was squelched with his returning anger.

He opened his mouth ready to address the god and only silence pushed down his throat. Okay, this was frustrating.

The god was mostly ignoring him. He patted the mists again. His hand pausing as he waited for a single mist to follow, arching its back like a cat, as Irons stroked a finger down the long puffy cloud. The small interaction reminded Gohan of his father and the flying nimbus.

"They're said to the be the sounds and consciousness of others who are dreaming," Irons said wistfully.

He stood slowly, brushing his hands on his pants. There was no rush in his idle movements. For a moment Gohan thought he saw long wings erect from Irons back, but just as quickly the image shimmered out.

A careful eyebrow raised at Gohan's reddening face as he struggled to speak.

"Oh yes, of course, I forgot."

He lifted a hand and for a second his eyes flashed a clearer blue. Gohan felt an instant release in pressure. He sucked in breath, like he hadn't taken a good gulp of air in a long while.

"What are you doing here?" It felt so good to hear his own voice.

"I'm tired of this scenery aren't you?"

"Wait, wha?"

It didn't take a hand raise this time. Irons simply smirked, and the world started to shake around them. Crumbling into pieces. The ground under Gohan's feet, split apart, separating into tiny balls of gravel, until till they too broke down, sweeping into the air as forgotten dust. Gohan coughed. The dust was overcoming him, until he could no longer see Irons, or really anything at all. He swiped at it and cupped a hand to his head, having the oddest sensation of spinning.

The dust only seemed to get thicker. And then just as suddenly, it cleared.

"Ah, that's better," Irons said casually.

He blinked and all the dust on his suit and hair vanished leaving him once again impeccable.

Gohan was still hacking, while trying to clear dust out of his eyes.

"Ack," he spat, "more of warning next time?"

Irons chuckled.

Finally after wiping a good chunk of debris out of his eye, Gohan could take in their new surroundings. At first he was confused, it didn't look like anything he recognized. A dark city alleyway. A flickering lamp. Sound of quiet wind. And then it hit him. This was where he had saved that women, Grace.

"How'd you...what are we..?" Gohan sputtered, unable to figure out what to ask first.

"Look familiar, Gohan?" Irons asked.

Gohan shook his head. "Well, yes, but why are we here?"

"You wanted answers. This is me giving them to you"

Gohan was confused, as usual, and he tried to ask more but Irons shushed him first, crossing his lips with a pale finger. Slowly he pointed towards a corner in the alley.

Gohan's eyes followed, and at first there was nothing. Just the dark alley, the light causing odd shadows on the wall, a fallen over trash can its contents spread across the alley floor. Then Gohan noticed a putrid cloud of smoke circling around the alley's corner. He recognized that breath. Its owner's shadow was suddenly cast up on the wall of the of the alley. His crooked form hard to miss. And the wings, those leathery bat like wings, that jutted out of the creature's back, those too Gohan remembered.

His whole body tensed, responding to the threat. He was about to pounce, planning on burying that Shruti's face into the trash, when Irons' hand gripped his shoulder.

Gohan glared back at the god, fully ready to knock him over if need be.

"Let go."

Irons' hand didn't relax. "It won't do any good, Gohan. This is a memory. You can't touch anyone."

The Shruti had come around the corner, his beady red eyes glowing in the night.

Gohan knocked off Irons hand, irritated that he couldn't do anything. "So what, now your the ghost of Christmas past!"

Irons looked at him weirdly and Gohan frowned, muttering a nevermind.

"Why are you showing me this?"

Irons didn't answer, he gestured out to the scene inviting Gohan to watch and reminding him to remain silent.

Irons must have been right about the memory thing because at one point the Shruti's gaze passed straight over both of them and he didn't so much as blink, he just kept hobbling forward, his red eyes flitting back and forth to the corners of the alleyway. Suddenly, his head jerked up, like he sensed something in the air, and he skittered back into the shadows to hide.

A few seconds passed, when a man came walking around the corner. He was hunched over, his hands buried deep in his pockets, and he looked like a nervous wreck. Gohan recognized this man too, he had tried to shoot Grace. The Shruti in hiding, suddenly pounced out of the shadows in front of the man. Instead of him teetering back in shock, like Gohan had expected, the man didn't so much as twitch. It was only then that Gohan remembered what Ruby had told him about the Shruti. That they were invisible to everyone unless they wanted to be seen.

The Shruti proceeded to wrap itself onto the man, locking its limbs around his waist, and breathing its acid breath into his ear. It was by far one of the most disturbing things Gohan had ever seen.

"What is going on?" Gohan asked, shocked.

"The Shruti can influence weaker men," Irons answered in little more than a whisper.

Gohan gulped, watching the man's jittery stride slow down, turning into a more confident step as the Shruti's hold got tighter. The man moved around the corner, ducking behind the trash can. The sound of high heels clicking echoed in the night, and Gohan could see the man perk up. Grace was walking by, keeping her pace as fast as she would dare, and holding her coat tightly to her middle.

And so this is how it happened Gohan thought. He watched the man burst out of his hiding spot, waving his gun around and growling threats as he grabbed a hold of Grace and dragged her into the alleyway. Grace, white with shock, was so afraid she didn't even fight back, her legs seemed useless. Moving more like jelly than anything else.

The man with the Shruti attached to him, ripped the purse from her grip and shoved her backwards. It was only then that she let out a terrified scream.

"Gohan relax," Irons said quietly.

Gohan realized he was shaking with rage. He couldn't calm down even though tried to. He really was. But it was all hitting him at once. A vicious rage that was directed more at the Shruti than anything else. Is this what they did in their spare time? Terrorize people and make innocents into criminals! How many more incidents were a result of their influence and not human behavior? It made him furious.

And then a second him was in the picture and his anger cooled into astonishment. Talk about weird.

Gohan watched himself snag the bullet out of thin air.

"Watch the Shruti."

Gohan did and saw as it suddenly perked up at his appearance on the scene. The Shruti lifted his head and let out one long loud nail biting screech. Gohan clamped his hands over his ears.

"Uh! How is it nobody hears that?" he bit loudly over the wobbly noise.

Irons waited for the noise to die down a little. "Never really had a taste for the sound either."

Two more Shruti flew in, and by this time the first Shruti detached himself from the man and he had run away. It was now Grace and Gohan, thinking they were alone, with a bunch of dark creature's' watching.

Gohan couldn't shake the disturbing feeling in his gut as he watched the scene play out. The Shruti had been there the whole time and he had had no idea. That alone made his skin crawl in a way he didn't think was possible.

Grace had asked for his name.

The Shruti moved in closer.

"Gohan."

Gohan saw the first Shruti smile. His black face filled with a sudden row of jagged sharp teeth.

He bent to the one Shruti to his left and to the other giving them each significant glances.

"Found him," he said still smiling. "Found the golden one."

"What do they mean by that?"

The image was dissolving.

"Hey wait!" Gohan whipped to Irons. "What did they mean?"

The ground beneath Gohan's feet suddenly became a lot more rocky. The world lightened and a light breeze hit his hot face. They were back to where they had started in his all too familiar dream.

Irons was smoothing the pockets of his suit with deliberate slowness.

"The Shruti have been looking for you for sometime. Gohan."

An enemy he never knew, never had met, wanted him dead and would be willing to use his mother against him. He felt like circumstance and unlucky fate was just being thrown in his face.

"...why?"

"Revenge, most likely. Hate. What are the reasons that drive evil spirits?" Irons asked.

Gohan shook his head, still processing. "I don't get it," he muttered. "Irons I'm not even sure I can believe it."

Irons eyes shifted off his suit to Gohan. "Do you mean you think I made up that as a charade?"

Gohan didn't want to come out so directly, but it seemed Irons wasn't giving him much of a choice.

"Yes. Yes, that is what I think. You are the God of Dreams, it doesn't seem that far off from your capabilities."

Irons laughed. "Well yes that's true, but I didn't make that up. What you saw Gohan, is what happened for real."

"And I can believe that how?"

Irons hands wound their way into his pockets once again.

"You asked for answers, Gohan. I'm giving them to you, and in return you have given me something. It is a fair deal. And I don't go back on that kind of thing."

"I didn't give you anything..." Gohan started, trailing off at the penetrating look Irons was giving him.

Something was telling him to search for his mother's beat.

It wasn't there. He hesitated, and tried harder to find it. Still there was nothing. He thought for a moment his heart would stop right along with it.

"You killed my mother?" Gohan asked. And it was an unbelieving, hateful tone. If Irons had said yes, Gohan would have ripped him apart even though he knew it would mean he would never leave this disgusting dream land. He would have torn Irons to shreds, and he wouldn't think twice.

Luckily for Irons, he shook his head no and Gohan, despite everything, believed him.

"Then what?"

Irons pulled a hand over his face.

"Leo told me he informed you on the balance of dependents and anchors, correct?" He paused. Gohan blinked a yes, and didn't bother anything more.

"Gohan, when you become more connected to this world," Irons gestured to the landscape, "you loose that connection between your anchors. You become more of an independent as your knowledge here grows. By saying yes to me, you separated yourself completely from your anchors and became totally independent. You can't feel your mother's beat because you severed the connection."

"I didn't do that! You did!"

"Only to prove that I wasn't the one who had led the Shruti to your home. Besides would you have said yes to me if you knew what would happen?"

Gohan was silenced.

Irons spurred on. He spoke desperately, willing Gohan to understand where he was coming from.

"Without that separation I couldn't have shown you what you just saw. And I had to show you, because I saw you didn't trust me. You would always think that I was the reason the Shruti took your mother.

"From the beginning, Gohan I wanted to tell you more, and sometimes I was very close to it. But then I remembered how much your mother means to you. How much that bond, and reminder of her beating heart was such a comfort to you. And I couldn't get myself to share. So I let you distrust me, Gohan, even though I knew your accusations were unfounded. I then thought we could use the link to our advantage. Maybe find your mother through the connection. But I see now that wasn't working."

"It might have," Gohan tried to argue, "I still could have figured out a way, ...I-"

"No Gohan. It wasn't working. I saw you use everything you had, and still fail. Fail so far that I was afraid you might never come out of that coma." Gohan's head fell forward and Irons gently shook his head.

"It wasn't by any fault of yours Gohan," he said. "Leo was right on that one, it was impossible. I had asked too much."

"So you thought separating me from her would gain my trust?"

Irons hesitated.

"It's not what I wanted to do. But you were right, you needed the truth. It was only fair that I be as honest with you as you are with me.

"Gohan, she's not dead," he continued. "She's still alive fighting for survival for you. Don't you see that we need each other? Without me and the other gods, taking on the Shruti's nest would be suicide even with all of your power. And I need you Gohan. I need you to trust me. What the Shruti did, taking away your mother. That was wrong. It's unbalanced, all of it, and I need your help to put it back together again."

"How can we," Gohan questioned, "without my bond, any hope of finding my mother is impossible."

"We do it indirectly."

Gohan frowned and Irons smiled deliciously. "They want you. They want revenge on you."

Gohan nodded waiting for Irons to expand.

"Make yourself known to them, and they will come, and when they do you will have a whole army of gods behind you waiting in the shadows. We will take down the Shruti once and for all, and when we do, we'll force them to retrieve your mother."

"And how exactly am I supposed to draw them out?"

"Go back to where it started. They'll be there I know it."

His reasoning seemed sound, and yet Gohan was finding that trusting Irons was going to be a difficult thing. One question nagged at him.

"Why didn't we do this sooner? If you had known that all it would take was to return back home, then why did I leave in the first place?"

"You honestly don't know, Gohan?"

Gohan tried to think of where Irons was going and was a bit annoyed at his exasperated expression.

"If you stayed, you would have been slaughtered. The number of Shruti is nearly incomprehensible, they would have eventually overwhelmed you. I had Leo bring you to the Tome, so that you could train the gods and then we could fight together."

"That was your goal this whole time?"

Irons nodded his head impatiently. "Yes, Gohan. The Shruti need to be stopped and I need your help doing so. How many more times am I going to have to explain myself to you?"

He sighed. "Listen, I had two ways to accomplish this. The first was to keep you in the dark, as much as possible, so that the link between you and your mother remained. That obviously did not work out. The second way is to tell you everything, and start at the beginning. As you can see, we are at plan B. It's not really my ideal spot, but we can make it work.

"Just answer me this, will you help us?"

Gohan was slowly wrapping his head around this whole thing. He didn't know why he should be so surprised. When he thought back to it, it seemed clear enough that this was Irons goal since the beginning and even more so after he had given his speech to the gods. It was just weird having Irons be so open to him, and despite all the answers, he had this itching feeling that there was more to what Irons was telling him, though he couldn't quite pin point what. Whatever was holding Irons back though, the information didn't help him now. He knew, that even as Irons offered him the decision, there was really only one answer he could choose. And Irons must know that too. Why even bother pretending like he has free will. He had to save his mother, and this was the only solution he saw to make that possible.

"Let's do this."

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Grace still hadn't woken up. Her pulse remained strong and steady, and her breathing regular. The best Piccolo could tell she was caught in a very deep sleep.

"Well, any ideas how this happened?" Vegeta asked harshly once the silence had gone on too long for his liking.

"Vegeta, I don't know why you keep asking me for answers. I know as much as you do," Piccolo bit out. Rubbing his head to stop the his coming migraine.

Vegeta growled and folded his arms. "Slap her or something! I'm tired of waiting for her to wake up."

Obviously nobody slapped her and as Vegeta turned away, grumbling about women and doing his routine scaning of the skies Piccolo's eyes went once again to the humans on the grass.

Eric was cradling Grace gently. Piccolo wasn't sure this guy was going to be okay. He went pretty quiet after the initial shock, and just started rocking the women back and forth in his arms. Something told him he should be more concerned, that these were Gohan's "friends", but he had a more pressing concern on his mind. Like where the hell was Gohan?

Frustrated, Piccolo made a movement to walk towards Vegeta, when a crash of energy shocked his senses. He staggered in shock and the relentless relief of it. He recognized it immediately because he had been focusing on it all day, it was Gohan's. Somehow, he was returning back to tangible earth. And not just anywhere, he realized. He was returning here.

"Vegeta!" Piccolo shouted, turning in excitement. "Do you feel that?"

Vegeta's brow furrowed and then lifted in surprise. He whipped his head back and forth searching. "Where is he?"

And before Piccolo could guess, Gohan appeared right before them, his hand clutching onto the arm, of one very tall, very pristine looking man.

"Gohan!" Piccolo shouted in relief. "Thank kami!"

The man in the suit smirked. "No thank god." He smiled belligerently, and Gohan agitatedly let go of his arm.

Gohan took five whole seconds to process Piccolo and Vegeta's presence. He blinked, like he was coming back from another world, and adjusting himself back to the old life. Finally surprise registered in his features.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked.

A huge popping noise and the sudden puff of stirred up grass and dirt distracted Piccolo from Gohan's question.

For a moment, he was shocked into silence. He didn't even realize his mouth was open. Hundreds of strange looking people had suddenly appeared behind Gohan and the man, all of whom, he realized he could not sense. He had no idea how to interpret any of this. An illusion? A complicated trick? He could see them, every last one, but when he closed his eyes and reached out for them, it was like they were not even there. Blank spaces. Who were these people and what was Gohan doing with them?

"Gohan what is this?" he managed after a considerable hestitation. Just as Vegeta said "Who that hell are all these people!"

Gohan shook his head, looking a bit sorry.

"It's hard to explain," he started.

"Try your best," Vegeta interrupted. "Piccolo here has been worried sick over your disappearance. And has gone out of his way to waste my time. So you better have a damn excellent explanation for the headache we've gone through."

Piccolo wasn't even sure Vegeta realized how much of a mother hen (in his own special way) he was sounding like at that moment. Gohan frowned guiltily.

"I'm sorry, everything happened so fast, I didn't even think of contacting you guys."

"What do mean, Gohan?" Piccolo asked, "what happened?"

The man in the suit stepped forward and Piccolo frowned when he realized he couldn't sense him either. He held out his hand to shake. How very western of him.

"Pleasure," he said, smiling cordially. "Irons Monroe."

"Piccolo," he grunted, but didn't return the handshake. Piccolo thought Irons would be put off by his grumpy demeanor, as most people were when they first met him. Instead, the guy, just seemed to smile more.

He let his hand drop. "Nice to finally meet you in person Piccolo." He nodded again and turned to Vegeta. "And you to, Vegeta. A pleasure really."

"How do you know my name?" Vegeta growled.

Irons smirked and Gohan interrupted. Piccolo was a little surprised by how much annoyance the kid was showing. Gohan was usually the first, well after his father, to make light of any situation. This type of reaction was something he rarely saw.

"Forget it, Vegeta," Gohan said, then turned to Piccolo urgently. The kid seemed distracted, every so often his gaze swiping the landscape. There were dark shadows under his eyes, and that happy spark Piccolo had become all too familiar with, was barely there. He looked tired, exhausted really but also tense in a way that made him appear restless. Piccolo noticed too his clothes were worn, tears in the fabric around his his ankles and knees.

He shot an accusing glare at Irons, but the man just avoided his gaze. Behind him, the hundreds of other people were spreading out, looking on high alert. They looked like they were ready for battle at any moment, and Piccolo wasn't really sure why that would be. One guy started to approach them, he had wild halo of hair and a beard that nearly matched it. He too was wound tight and he walked quickly towards them, his eyes narrowed at the surrounding landscape.

"Gohan," he said warningly.

"I know, Leo," Gohan said, barely giving the man so much as a head turn in his direction. "I see them."

"See what?" Piccolo asked.

"Piccolo have you ever heard of Shruti?"

Piccolo wasn't sure if heard right.

"What?"

Gohan sighed. "This is going to sound crazy. But we're surrounded by hundreds of them right now. They're invisible."

Picollo waited for Gohan's serious expression to snap into a smile maybe even shout out a 'Just Kidding!'. He didn't. He looked dead serious. And for reasons unknown to him, his stomach clenched tight.

Vegeta seemed less worried.

"You're right, that does sound crazy. I don't see anything," he declared and looking increasingly agitated. "Are you purposely pulling our strings, Gohan? Is this some kind of game to you?"

"No game, Vegeta," Gohan cut in quickly and sounding a twinge bit desperate. "They are the reason for my disappearance, they took my mom."

Piccolo wanted to believe him. He really did, but he was having a hard justifying something was there when he could neither see or sense it. "Gohan..." he started cautiously.

But Gohan wasn't listening. He spun to the man, Irons, beside him. "Is there some way you can make them see?"

Vegeta groaned aloud at the question. "Now you mock us."

Irons shook his head ignoring Vegeta. "Only the Shruti have the power to reveal themselves. I can't help you here Gohan."

Gohan angrily rapped his fist against his thigh and groaned.

"Gohan," Leo interrupted, "convince your friends later. There's no time."

Gohan kept flicking his gaze to the nearby hill and back to Piccolo and Vegeta. He ran a shaky hand through his hair. "I know. I know!"

Piccolo wasn't sure how to respond to this. Again he looked at the hill everyone else seemed to fixated on, convinced this time he would see something.

"Do you see the blood in my front yard?" Gohan asked desperate.

Now that was something he did see. Piccolo turned back to Gohan and nodded his head.

"Its from the Shruti. Piccolo, you have to believe me, they're invisible, that's the only reason why..." he trailed off, his attention distracted at something behind Piccolo. Piccolo turned too, but saw nothing. He was about to voice this when, Gohan raised his arm and let out a yellow blast. It shot straight past Piccolo's ear, he could hear it whistle by, and then...blood. Piccolo did a double take. He saw it spurt literally out of nowhere.

Gohan ignored Piccolo and Vegeta's astonished gasps, his mood suddenly darkening.

"Where is my mother?" he ground out darkly, keeping his hand extended as he neared the floating trickle of blood. He stopped at Piccolo's side, eyes never once leaving the thing in front of him.

Some sort of exchange was happening. Piccolo couldn't hear anything, but he was now 100% convinced that there was something in front of him, even if he couldn't see it.

Piccolo watched Gohan's profile glaring at the invisible bleeding figure impassively.

"Tell me," he commanded.

A moment of waiting, and then Piccolo saw Gohan's eyes widened and the impassive expression break down. Gohan's face scrunched up in anguish, the lower lip trembling.

"You're lying," he whispered.

It shocked Piccolo to the core to hear how broken the boy's voice sounded. What was going on?

He feared approaching Gohan any closer, because his expression was boarder line suicidal and downright terrifying. Until this precise moment, Piccolo had never once feared Gohan. Not even when the boy had transformed to the next level and fought Cell with enough to ruthlessness to strike cold fear into the very tyrant he was fighting. But now, as he watched the boy's expression snap from crushing defeat to full on, justified anger, his blood turned cold.

Gohan's voice hardened. "Reveal yourself to everyone here," he ordered.

Another ball of light was illuminating in his outstretched hand. It was darker this time, coursing with more concentrated energy, small crackles of electricity rounding about the sphere.

"Do it now."

He raised his hand higher. One moment, a hesitation, and then it was like the veil over Piccolo's eyes had been lifted. Piccolo nearly stumbled backward in surprise. Luckily, he's not one to be thrown off his feet so easily and he caught himself quickly. Vegeta had a much different reaction.

"What the...!" he shouted, astonished as he staggered.

They could finally see what Gohan had been trying to tell them all along. Spindly, bat looking creatures, that lined the hill, hung in the air, and were all growling and hissing as far as Piccolo's eye could see. He didn't know how this was possible, but at this moment it didn't matter. The bleeding creature in front of his eyes was hissing through clenched teeth as he held his wounded abdomen.

"Happy now? Golden one?" it sneered.

Piccolo nodded as Gohan looked his way to reaffirm he now saw everything.

Gohan turned slowly back to the creature.

"Not quite."

He released the concentrated ball of energy, straight at its chest, incinerating the creature on site. The army of monsters went wild in response to their fallen comrade, some shrieking at levels that made Piccolo flinch. Piccolo and Vegeta stared in shock at Gohan, but all they got was a cold, detached, expression as he moved back to Irons.

What has happened to you, Gohan? Piccolo wondered. He saw behind Gohan's blank expression, straight on to his staggering grief and near uncontrolled anger crackling in his black eyes. What did that creature tell you? Only one answer seemed to fall into place. ChiChi was dead. They had killed her. Those monsters took his mother away, and then killed her. A wave of sadness washed over Piccolo, damn that kid for making him so soft.

If Gohan noticed the look Piccolo was giving him, he ignored it. He was looking at Irons, his face a mask of whirling emotions.

"You wanted a fight," he said, "let's end this."

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Chapter End

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A/N: Ah, the end is near. NEAR!


	10. Level Out

A/N: Another chapter. I can't believe how long this story has become. Sorry about the wait, I'm having a ridiculously hard time writing these final chapters. I wanted to put more into this one, but I figured I shouldn't make you guys wait any longer. So ya, its shorter, but hopefully my next update isn't far behind! And without further ado, chapter 10!

Irons Monroe

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Chapter 10: Level Out

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There was a gaping hole in Gohan's chest. He was certain the whole world was ripping apart. Shattering at his feet, mocking him for how quickly his entire reason for existence could blink away in an instant. His father, mother, unborn sibling, all dead. Dead. He wanted to curl up, somewhere dark, quiet, and secluded and never have to talk again. So that he could escape this reality. He didn't want to be a part of it anymore. The emptiness hurt. He looked at the pathetically wheezing creature in front of him and realized that never in his life had he wanted something so badly to die. It was evil, it didn't deserve to live, it should die.

"Not quite."

The blast ripped through the creature's chest cavity, dividing him in two before the flames ate up his body. The kill did nothing to lessen Gohan's pain. He had hoped maybe, but it didn't even scrape the surface of what was bubbling up inside of him.

Above him, around him, more and more Shruti were coming in, their numbers reaching astounding levels, further than he could possibly see or imagine. They we're shrieking and yelping, waiting on the brink of the hill, and hanging in the now blackening sky waiting for the fight to begin. Gohan considered them for a moment, and hoped there would be enough for him to make this pain go away.

He spun to Irons.

"You wanted a fight. Let's end this."

Irons quickly sobered, the smirk at the edges of his lips finally fading.

"Yes, Gohan, let's," he agreed and then motioned to Leo.

"Get them ready."

Leo nodded and sprinted off back to the gods in waiting.

The moment was truly happening. The fight against the gods and Shruti, with Gohan tipping the balance. A large, distinct Shruti stepped into the nomads zone between armies, where his comrade had been completely obliterated by Gohan seconds earlier, the ashes of his body still scattering in the foggy sky.

The Shruti ground his knotted black fists into the ground and roared. It wasn't anything like the other shrieks reverberating across the open field; it was deep, loud, and thunderous. And what erupted afterward was a battle cry unlike anything Gohan had ever heard. As one, the Shruti spurred forward and attacked the one in front leading the charge.

Their rumbling feet and sharp smash of wings sounded like a renegade thunderstorm. Gohan watched as they neared, and before he powered up, he turned quickly to Piccolo and Vegeta. When this was over, he would talk with them, and share them everything. Right now, he only needed to know one thing.

"You with me?"

Vegeta smirked in a way that reminded Gohan why Vegeta was the prince of saiyans. He looked absurdly comfortable in the approaching chaos.

"Should be interesting." He spat, faced the coming army, and powered up.

Piccolo only nodded. It said more than any words could. The tall, intimidating alien threw off his cloak and hat, and they hit the ground with a resounding clunk. Gohan stepped between them. The Shruti were almost on them, the nearest just ten feet away.

Gohan released everything he had. Going super saiyan had never been so easy as he felt the earth wail and shift beneath his feet.

He grabbed the face of the first Shruti and whipped it around, slamming him into the coming swarm. They came at him faster, each with bloodthirsty revenge glinting in their crimson eyes. He felt them gnaw and grapple at him, and yet, the feeling was distant. They were like flies. A distant flapping. A minor annoyance. His power level was continuing to rise, each passing second, breathing more strength and stamina into his system. A Shruti tried to take him from behind, and he dodged, elbowing it in the jaw. Subconsciously, he was aware of Piccolo and Vegeta's presence near him, both proud warriors doing their share of damage. The gods, who at one time were behind him, were now interspersed ahead of him in vicious battle with the relentless army of Shruti. His home, everything he had placed his hope and love in, was now a battlefield. There was no other way to describe it, something inside him died.

Gohan lifted himself into the air, powered up again his golden hair flying, and a orb of energy exploding around him. It staggered anyone who was near, god and Shruti alike. He shot out a few ki blasts, into the floating swarm, and watched as some of the black creatures tumble to the grass below. Their hissing was irritating. He wanted it to stop. He wanted them to shut up.

Gohan screamed, his whole body clenched tight. Muscles unnatural for his age, bulging. He could feel this power building up inside him, bursting at the edges, fighting to escape. It was different from the Cell games, the power was part of him, that he was sure, but it also felt foreign. Dangerous even. He wanted to release it, to let it all go like he had never had before. Vaguely he realized he had already ascended into super saiyan two. He could hear the crackling of lightening around him, causing the hairs on his arms to stand up like he had a chill. Somewhere too he noticed that most of the Shruti were pulling away from him. That their threats were becoming more and more distant. And that Piccolo and Vegeta had stopped fighting completely, their wide eyed gazes stuck on him. And yet, with all this, there was only one thing he could find focus on, and that was this new wave of power. Something he had thought had never existed before inside him. It was burning to be released and he was fighting with every cell of his being to let that happen. He was trembling, mouth agape in silent scream. He felt it expand and heat up inside him.

It was getting stronger.

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Leo touched down onto the ground, wiping the black blood of Shruti off his hands onto his shirt. Blood was pumping in his ears, a reminder of the adrenaline coursing through his veins. Once he started to fight, it was hard for him to stop. He was, at the very least, Irons previous bodyguard and one didn't get that position for no reason. He was a fighter. And once immersed in battle, he didn't stop until the last enemy had hit the ground. Today, though, the Shruti's numbers were overwhelming, and he could tell this fight was going to be a difficult one. Even with all these gods and Gohan.

Gohan. The enigma of a child. He punched a closing Shruti and shifted back, moving his way backwards towards the small home, dodged another attacking from the right flipping its body over his shoulder, and then he glanced in the kid's direction.

And despite his training, his focus, he stopped suddenly, abruptly, and gaped. Gohan was hanging in the air, and the sky around him was on fire. The wind had picked up, swirling outwards in all direction form Gohan's floating body. The earth was a cavern underneath him. A cavern, Leo realized, that was growing deeper and wider with every passing second. The hissing cries of Shruti and grunts of gods were lost in the whistling wind. It staggered Leo. He fell back a step. A flash of lightening whipped out. Crashing thunder followed. The ground shook. And Gohan's bright yellow hair swayed like a flickering candle in the eye of the storm.

A Shruti made to swipe at the distracted Leo. Leo barely avoided its claws, as he ducked wide. He slammed his fist into its gut and it heaved and stumbled backwards away from him. But Leo was barely noticing. His golden wheat eyes were taking in Gohan in what could only be described as shock. Utter, complete shock.

He knew Gohan was strong. He knew this. He had seen the Cell Games, and had seen Gohan fight the Shruti before. And yet, this Gohan was somehow, impossibly, stronger still. A huge gust of wind and scattered rocks, whooshed past, and he threw up an arm to protect himself, eyeing Gohan through the silt between his fingertips. So powerful...it was hard to comprehend. The sky rumbled, not far to Leo's right the ground spliced open, Shruti and god falling down with shocked cries. He watched as some of the Shruti flapped out, pulling their unnaturally bent bodies up with those leathery wings. Other gods appeared suddenly at the edge, heaving sighs of relief. But before they could catch their breath, the earth quaked again, and the ground split in a hundred different places all flying out from one origin. Gohan.

Leo dived to the side wildly just as the ground split open under his feet. The Shruti who he had hit, fell in with one last ear piercing hiss, unable to fly because of a damaged wing. And Leo grasped air, hoping crazily that he would reach the edge before the crevasse widened. He let out a roar, extending his body, and _SLAM_, his right hand barely clenched onto the broken edge as the rest of his body flung forward into the wall of earth. He hit it hard with a grunt and then threw a glance over his shoulder, sucking in gasps, and boggled at the depth of the hole. He couldn't see the bottom, not even with his eyes, which were far sharper than any human. He hung there for a moment, before grunting, and pulling himself up. Leo rolled onto the grass, his hair falling in and out of his eyes as the wind whipped at him, almost strong enough to push him back in. The sky was darkening, turning a cold black and the clouds whirled past, being pushed at unnatural speeds. Beneath him he felt the ground rumble and shake. Off to the side he heard another crack of thunder, as the lightening lit up the sky. This was madness. How was this possible? Gohan stop this! He thought desperately. But he was worried that wasn't going to happen. It looked like Gohan had lost control. For the first time in a long time, Leo was very very scared.

Another shake and Leo felt his legs dip downward. Frightened he back pedaled with his hands, watching the earth crumble away at his feet, pulling him with it. Leo flung over onto his hands and knees, his hands digging into the grass, slick and blackened from Shruti blood, and scrambled with all his might from the yawning hole. He could feel it cave away at his feet as he pushed himself up and ran. He didn't dare glance back, afraid he would slow down. He just kept running, heading straight for the house. Gohan's small house, that somehow remained untouched amidst the chaos.

The ground finally stopped trembling, and he slowed. Lookng back to see a large cavernous split in the land where he had been lying moments earlier. Leo wiped sweaty palms on his pants and glanced back up at Gohan. The boy was shaking, from exertion, or maybe it was all that power, and he was literally glowing, lightening scattering and flickering from his fingertips. A strange light in the growing darkness.

Leo turned his gaze to the battle, but there was no fight anymore, everyone was fleeing. Trying to find safer ground. He swept the landscape looking for Irons, but the god was nowhere to been seen. If he died Leo was sure he wouldn't care. Any other time, and he would have felt guilty just thinking that. He stepped to the side, the wind rushed and whipped again at him with ruthless conviction, and this time he looked for Ruby. Searching hopefully for a flash of her long blonde hair.

"Ruby!" he yelled out into the thunderous noise. His voice lost in the wind and the thunder and the earthquakes. "Ruby!"

Desperately he turned back to the house. And that's when he saw a head flicker behind the window.

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Eric clutched Grace closely to his chest, and pulled her inside the house out of the raging windstorm and war.

The reasonable part of his mind was trying to rationalize an endless army of giant flying creatures and hundreds of equally strange people that suddenly appeared and scattered across the Son's lawn. The more dominate and present part of his mind was hyperventilating and hoping to god that this was all a dream.

Breathing short and rapidly out of fear and exhaustion he dragged Grace inside. He accidentally knocked against the table. Stumbled over a chair. Nearly tripped on the carpet, before he realized he was in full on panic mode.

_Come on, Eric, pull it together! Come on now!_

He gasped. Set Grace down on the floor, and ran shaking hands through his hair. Slow breaths now, come on. The wind flung the front door open and he jumped three feet in the air.

"GOD! Oh God, oh God, oh..!" he stammered rushing over to the door, nearly falling backward from the gust of wind. The curtains from the front whipped out at him like grasping hands. He batted at them.

"This is crazy! GOD!" He snatched at one curtain and ripped it off its post. "I'll pay for it later!" he swore to no one.

The wind whistled in again, and he skittered backwards a few steps from the door. Gritting his teeth, and with every inch of strength left in him he staggered to the door and slammed it shut, locking and bolting it before he turned to the windows and threw those closed to. The howl of wind quieted slightly and his anxiety lowered the tiniest sliver.

He rushed back to Grace and pulled her up against the back of the couch, and used the curtain that was still in his hand as a pillow for her on his lap.

"Come on, Grace," he said again for the hundredth time, "I could really use you right now. Wake up now. Please wake up."

She in turn did nothing.

He shivered, wiped at his glasses as a nervous gesture, and refused with all his might to not look out the window. It was crazy out there. That was not reality. NO way. He focused on thinking of different things. He thought of a thousand different things. He thought about how hungry he was. How he loved cherry pie. He thought about his grocery list. That his car needed and oil change. That he was certain he had left his favorite shirt in the laundry and it was sure to get wrinkled. He thought about slapping Grace awake. He thought about candles and dinner.

The wind shook the house, the ground beneath him moaned and swayed.

He clenched his eyes shut and thought harder and more resolutely about his favorite pair of socks.

A stack of plates fell off the kitchen counter and shattered to the floor.

Eric's eyes flew open. "AH!" he yelped. He searched for the source of the sound, and did not relax when he found it was the plates that were responsible. He jumped up to his feet, flew across the living room floor, closed his eyes as he passed the window, and flicked the lights off. _Nobody's home_. He thought hopefully.

More carefully this time, he made his way back to Grace in the dark. She was lying just as he left her, as still and as limp as death. A chill ran up his spine and he sat again next to her. He patted her head.

"Please Grace, come on," he whispered.

He pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around the both of them, huddling against the storm that was shaking the house, threatening to rip it from its very foundations. He had no idea where it had come from. He was also certain that he didn't care.

He shivered, closed his eyes and tried to relax. Suddenly, the front door crashed open. Eric's stomach lodged into his throat, and he clutched Grace, probably a bit too tightly as he ducked down further behind the couch, hiding. It could just be the wind, again. That could be it. But then, he heard the door close, and something heavy being dragged across the carpet. Dead body? He thought wildly.

He bit his lip and chanced a look around the couch. A tall man, mane of golden hair, had his back to him, and was putting the living room recliner in front of the door so that it wouldn't blow open again. He made a move to turn around and Eric whipped his head back behind the couch, trying his best not breath like he had just run a marathon. He hoped the sound of the wind outside would cover for the terrible job he was doing.

"I can hear you," the man said evenly. "Behind the couch."

Eric was certain at the moment that he was indeed a dead man. Shakily and still not turning away from the couch he said. "Nobody's home!"

The man walked forward and Eric finally saw him from the front as he rounded the corner of the couch keeping his distance. He didn't look nearly as threatening as some of the other things outside. He had a wild hair and beard, golden eyes, and a look about him that was rumpled, at ease. He almost looked friendly, until Eric saw the the stains of black on his shirt and hands. Blood.

"What are you doing here?" the man asked.

Eric suddenly decided he didn't want to die sitting on the floor. Gently, he laid Grace's head on the ground, curtain cradling her head just so, and he stood, knees a little wobbling, to face the stranger.

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing? This is my home!" Eric challenged.

"You don't live here," the man said simply. "This is the Son's home, and you are not a Son."

Eric's tiny bubble deflated. "We're friends," he tried again.

The man scanned Eric. "This is no place for someone like you. You have..." he stopped there, as his eyes found Grace on the floor. Those weird golden eyes clouded in concentration.

Eric protectively stepped in front of her.

"What happened to her?" the man asked a trifle bit to curiously, in Eric's opinion.

"Why would I tell you?" Eric shot back, sounding a lot braver than he felt.

Instead of getting angry like Eric had half expected, he expression turned soft. "Because," he began, "I might be able to help."

Eric didn't have anything to say that.

"Tell me what happened," the man said more forcefully over another low rumble of thunder and echoed hiss from a far off Shruti.

"Not much to tell..." Eric found himself saying. "We were just talking when she passed out."

"When?" the man questioned sounding urgent.

Eric showed his palms. "I don't know. Just before all this chaos happened."

Lightening snapped and lit up half of the man's face

"Does she know Gohan?"

Eric halted. Glaring up at the man. "Why? And how do you know Gohan. You're not a friend of Piccolo's are you because I think I've had enough of him and his crew."

"Piccolo..."the man started. "That green guy? No. No. Now please tell me. It's important. You can't even begin to imagine how important."

Eric's impulse was to argue, but something was swaying him. He slowly nodded his head, looking down at Grace's impassive form as he did so.

"Yeah. She knows him." He paused, and then added. "He saved her life."

The man frowned. And then with sudden agility, moved to her side before Eric could even track the movements.

"Hey! Wait a second!"

But the man was already touching her forehead. His own brow wrinkling as he did so. There was a moment, where even the thunderous booms and cries outside seemed silenced and then he jerked his hand off suddenly as if shocked.

"I don't believe it," he murmured.

"Don't believe what?" Eric pressed, hands finding his pockets.

The man was looking up, hurrying to the window. Eric shifted between following him and staying with Grace. Before he could decide, he heard a soft moan at his feet. He glanced down. Grace was frowning, her expression tightening.

"What did you do to her!" Eric accused, turning on the man. He didn't care if this guy was nearly a foot taller than him. He was going down.

"Nothing," the man hissed back, his eyes still glued at whatever was outside the window. Eric snorted and started to charge.

"Eric?"

He stopped mid stride and spun around. "Grace?"

Grace was slowly pulling herself up. Her hand going to her head and she blinked dry eyes. Eric rushed to her side and helped her to her feet.

"What happened? Are you okay?" he asked in a whirl.

"It's okay," she said her voice softer than usual. "It's okay."

The man at the window turned to face her. Their eyes met for a moment. Before Grace turned away, frowning.

"Eric who's that? Friend of Piccolo's?"

"No, but I think he knows Gohan."

She brightened, still working on shaking off the fatigue that was plaguing her. Pulling her down slowly. Eric again, adjusted his grip and propped her up so that she stood straight. She smiled slightly in thanks.

"Than you can tell us where he is?" she asked hopefully turning towards the man. Eric sighed. She had such hope in these weird strangers. No wonder she got put at gun point. Eric regretted the thought immediately. They should probably tell her there was some war going on outside. He wondered how'd she react to that one. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he almost missed what the man said to her question.

"Yes."

Eric fumbled and Grace's eyes widened. "What do you mean, yes? Like at this moment you know where he is."

The man looked at them both strangely. "Yes...I know."

He pointed out the window up towards the sky. "He's right there."

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A/N: And so the climax builds. Reviews are so welcome!


	11. Nearing End

A/N: I'm kind of sad. No one left a review for last chapter. This leads me to believe that one, I'm not going in the direction you were all hoping for and you HATE me for it. Or two, it was so absolutely AWESOME that you leaped from your chair in joy and spun away to spread the news of the last chapter to all your friends, completely wrapped up in your utter happiness that you forgot to leave a review. I'm hoping for the second choice. You guys might have noticed (by which I mean without a doubt know) that I am a slow updater, I chuck this up to busy lifestyle and to fact that I am not the speediest writer (I over analyze, it's true!). And I truly apologize for that, I mean I myself hate slow updaters. BUT I can tell you one thing that does motivate me – all of your honest reviews! I suppose it really goes without saying, but your reviews is nearly the whole reason why I do this. Seriously, this story was on the verge of collapsing a while back, but your support brought it back to life. I love feedback! Fellow writers can agree! Anyway, even if you hate it, let me know, because writing is all about self improvement. Yeah, so I'm just going to stop this rambling.

If you skipped the above paragraph I don't blame you.

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Irons Monroe

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Chapter 11: The Nearing End

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Outside the torrent wind wailed on, thunder and lightning shaking the sky. It was utter blackness now, except for one rampant, blaze of light. It was that light that Grace could not look away from. She stared bug eyed out the window, most of her weight leaning against Eric, and took in the scene the bearded man had pointed out to her. The light, the _source_ of this chaos was Gohan. For that fleeting, jaw dropping moment she forget about her fatigue, and the lucid nightmare she had pulled herself out of, it was just her and Gohan and his astonishing and infinite power.

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Leo rubbed his eyes. He was bone tired, the realization of it only just settling in. Damp fatigue weighing down on him. Everything about this was not right. They were supposed to be fighting the Shruti, instead it seemed Gohan was going to take them all apart. Gods, Shruti, humans, nothing was pardoned from his rage.

"What's happening?"

Leo glanced sideways at the women, and licked his lips. Good question. "He's lost control. There's no telling when it will stop."

He trailed off, ignoring her deepening frown, and her obvious thirst for more questions. It was better that she didn't know more. A dependent, that's what she was to Gohan, he had felt it the moment he had laid eyes on her. But then he had touched her forehead, and found something he hadn't expected. Her link to Gohan wasn't there anymore. She wasn't attached to him as she once was. That casted her off, made her a drifting link. It was probably why she was unconscious. But why? Why was the link severed? That question, well, that one he was nearly afraid to find out.

He casted his eyes once again out to the trembling boy. Even from their distance, he could hear Gohan's feral screams. The landscape was a tormented mess of gorges and chasms and sharply split ravines. Bodies too. Shruti's blood mixed with god's. He squeezed his eyes tight, trying to shake the image. _Not right_. Somebody's got to stop this boy.

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So much power. It was filling him up, taking over his every sense. There was no thoughts only hot anger. Deep sorrow. He shook and trembled with it, throat hoarse and ragged from screaming. And still more was flowing out of him. Gohan flung his head to the skies and let out a wretched wail.

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There was black blood staining his hands and stuck underneath his fingernails. Wind whistling past his ears, the rumbling earth and rocks shooting past him. Vegeta closed his eyes.

He always had a plan. The plan might not work they way he wanted, but it was there. A goal. Get the Dragonballs, revenge, get stronger than Goku, beat Cell. Goals. Simple, really to put something like that together. There wasn't consistent success, but there you have it. At least it was something to strive towards. This time, however, as Vegeta hung in the air, vaguely aware of his gawking and the Namek not far beneath him, he could think of no plan. Gohan wasn't listening to them. He had snapped, no doubt about it.

Another burst of earth. Grass. Dust. Rocks. And…lava, that's new. Vegeta sped to the side avoiding a blast of red hot lava before it hit him. He was about a hundred feet from the kid. And dammit, even at this distance he was having trouble staying in the air. Just the raw force pushing outwards was nearly enough to send him spiraling downwards to join the piles of dead faces beneath him.

He grimaced, and reeled back avoiding another shoot of lava. _Insane!_ He thought. That stupid kid. Didn't he have enough power as it was? How was it possible that it could get higher? His power level was more than staggering. If he concentrated hard enough on it, he nearly forget how to breath. And it was rising still! If this continued, there would be no more earth to grind up.

Over the howl of the wind, earthquakes, and Gohan's endless wild scream, Vegeta heard Piccolo growl. He had pushed himself past Vegeta's height and was still going. Steadily closing the distance between himself and Gohan.

"Gohan!" Vegeta heard him gasp into the wind. "You have to stop! You must calm down!"

Piccolo was growling and gnashing his teeth against the increasing force unable to move any further.

"GOHAN!" He shouted desperately.

It was a useless effort. The kid showed no signs of hearing anything.

Vegeta turned away from the scene. An apocalyptic landscape met his gaze. Giving up was never his plan. Never. He be screwed if he didn't at least try something now.

"OH hell with it!"

He powered up, gritted his teeth, and barreled towards Gohan, splicing through the wind like a rocket.

Ninety feet and the roaring was growing louder, the pressure stronger.

Eighty feet.

Seventy feet and a bolt of lightning barely missed him.

Sixty feet. "GOHAN! YOU STUPID -!"

Fifty feet and his own nails were cutting into his skin. Red blood mixing with the Shruti's black.

Forty feet. "AARRGgghhH!"

Thirty feet. He could make out Gohan's features. And he was slowing. Considerably. Vegeta prince of saiyans couldn't even touch this half-breed. He let the frustration fuel his power and he shot up acouple more feet.

Ten feet. The wind, lightning, raw power, was so exhaustingly heavy. He was flying with everything he had and was going nowhere.

"Go—ha…n," he sputtered, hardly able to push breath out against the force. The wind was so sharp here, it was cutting slits into his skin, dicing it into ribbons, and pulling the cuts open wide. He was wearing down, he fell back a few feet. NO! He fought harder. His bruised and bleeding fingers reaching frantically out for the still distant, shuddering kid. Lightning rippled and struck out of nowhere, hit Vegeta in the arm sending shocks of electricity in trembling agony down the curve of his spine. He lost control and started to fall.

And once it started he couldn't slow. He only sped faster.

He shot downwards , spinning and flailing, the wind filling his ears. He thought he heard Piccolo yell for him, but he couldn't be sure. He was falling so fast. _If this is how it ends_, he thought, _I'm going to be extremely pissed_.

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For the third time that night, the door swung open wide, bringing with it a gale of blustery weather and debris. Leo slid back from the force of it, and he caught from the corner of his eye, the humans fall backwards onto the floor. The rumbling quieted as the door rammed shut again. Ruby stood there, running a hand through her windswept, and mostly tangled head of hair. She blew out a sigh of exhaustion, raising her eyebrow at the recliner.

"Who put this here?"

"Ruby," Leo said in relief.

She was still staring at the chair waiting for more explanation.

"I put it there to keep the door closed."

She chuckled. "Well a great job that did, then."

Leo ran up and shoved the chair back in its place. "It was for the wind, not you."

She looked at him with a gaze that told him she thought it was a useless effort, then she shrugged, her mind already turning to more important matters.

"You feel it don't you?" she whispered, shuddering a little.

"Feel what?" it was the male, by the back window. He was still in the process of pulling himself and the women up off the ground. Leo gave them both a fleeting glance before he turned back around to Ruby in question.

She bent and touched an outstretched palm to the floorboard.

"The earth. It's falling apart. I can feel it dying." The words left her lips in a thin whisper. Ominous. And as if to answer her claim, the house rocked once more and Leo heard the women gasp at the window just as an explosion thundered the room. He and Ruby ran to see. If it wasn't in front of his eyes, he would have found it hard to believe. The deep cavern of split earth had exploded outwards bright fluorescent lava shooting out like some deranged fountain. The yard was rained in flame. Shruti and gods still on the battlefield yelped and screamed as some were scalded by the falling lava.

Ruby jumped back from the window fearfully. "Oh, Leo, this is horrible. Where's Irons? Why isn't he intervening? Leo, do you know? Where is he?"

Leo shook his head, resting a hand on Ruby's shoulder. A more human gesture for sure, but contact was important, especially at a time like this.

"I lost sight of him once the battle began. He vanished."

Leo's face slowly clouded, a frown pressing down on his features as Ruby continued to babble her worries and the humans fell into a small conversation of their own.

Irons. Leo fingered his beard. Irons. Why would he abandon a fight he led? A battle he convinced them all to fight. For Gohan to fight…

"…black forest."

Leo whipped his head over to the humans. The women had been whispering in a small voice talking about a black forest. Like the Shruti's home. He had never been, but he had heard rumors of what it looked like, was it possible she somehow had seen?

"What are you talking about?" he said sharply.

She looked at him and gnawed on her lip, as if deciding it was okay to share the truth with him.

"My dream."

Leo tried his best to be patient. Sure the end of the world and all that was happening right outside, but if she was talking about the Shruti's home, he had to know. It might be the key to stopping Gohan.

"Can you expand on that?" he growled tightly.

She withdrew from his anger, looking a little nervous. Finally she sighed, and started her story over again.

"When I went out, at first I was in a dream I have been having for some time. It's where I connected with Gohan. I was there for a while, and I started to think about him. I remembered the news article I read about the disappearance and the picture I saw of him and his mom." She frowned as her tale took a different turn. "That's when the dream started to fall apart."

Leo thought maybe his heart would pound out of his chest. Transfixed, he took in every word, wondering frantically if the story was going to go the way he thought it would.

"Everything shattered and the world morphed black. I was in a black forest. I could barely see anything beyond a few feet, but I knew it was a forest because I could see the tree's silhouette against the sky. I was scared. I mean, this was a place I had never been. And it felt just as real as the other dream, and hundred times more frightening because of it. I wanted out, and was stumbling around, I think, trying to find an exit, when I heard a voice."

Even Ruby was listening now, she must have recognized the correct description of the Shruti's home.

"ChiChi," Leo muttered knowingly. Staring at her like she was the life saver. As she might as well

should be.

Grace looked at him in thought. "Yes," she trailed, hugging a herself a little, "it was Gohan's mom."

"But how is that possible?" Ruby asked.

Leo smirked waving off Ruby with a frantic hand. "She followed the link between her and ChiChi.

They're connected because Gohan was connected to them," he looked back at Grace. "I thought it was impossible, but you did it. Somehow, you found Gohan's mom."

Ruby shook her head trying to process. "Gohan's mom is alive? But we were all told she was dead, Gohan thinks she's dead."

Grace shrugged her shoulders like she was looking for more warmth. "Well if this dream is true,"

"And it is," Leo interrupted.

Grace nodded towards him. "Then Chi Chi is still alive, not in the best of shape, but alive and still stuck in that forest."

Leo jumped to the door. "We have to inform Gohan!"

"What good will that do?"

He spun on Ruby with such urgency, she stumbled a few steps back. "Good!" he shouted nearly laughing, "he thinks his mother's dead, it's triggered something inside him…maybe – maybe-"

"If we tell him she's alive he'll see reason," Grace interrupted.

The man beside her stepped forward. "Well, that's a great plan and all but how exactly do we tell him?

And even then, why would he believe us? Why would he listen?"

Leo paced snapping his fingers then fixed his attention on Grace. "Do you think you could find that place again?"

Grace frowned, tightening her arms around her waist. "Maybe, if I concentrate…I don't know."

Leo touched her on the shoulder. "You have to. If you can do it, I can transport us both there. Then we can bring Gohan's mother back." He looked up at Eric, "That will convince him more than our words."

Leo spun to Ruby. "And Ruby, you work on telling Gohan right now."

She stared at him. "What are you insane?"

"I'm serious. Find his friends, that green man and the short one. Get their help and try to get Gohan's attention. At least until we come back, try and buy us time."

She frowned while pulling at the ends of her hair. "Fine," she said resigned. "I'll do it." She jutted her

finger at Leo. "But your plan better work. He's not going to listen to us."

"At least try."

"Okay, okay! Kenadal, seriously." She spun to the door. "If I die it's your fault!" She shouted irately over her shoulder.

He ignored her. If this didn't work they were all going to die.

Ruby left and Leo turned back to Grace. "Alright, I need you to focus. Do what you did before."

She nodded hesitantly, and Eric squeezed her shoulder. "You can do this," he mumbled.

She closed her eyes and Leo touched his hand once again to her forehead. He really wasn't sure this was going to work, in fact, he really doubted it. He tried to shake those doubts and clear his mind. If this was going to happen he needed to focus just as much as Grace. Her forehead crinkled in concentration, he felt her tense at his side. Her hands balled into tight fists. She wobbled slightly, and suddenly her body relaxed. Leo focused to, and he could feel she was getting closer. _She's actually doing it_, he thought, amazed.

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Vegeta groaned. Gawh, did he hurt. He wasn't sure where he was, he must have blacked out for a moment when he had hit the ground. And he had hit hard. Hard enough to blast a Vegeta shaped hole in the ground. He cracked an eye open and looked down at his feet. Yup, still alive. Shakily, he brought up his arm. There was a long dark scorch mark near the elbow where the lightening had struck. Yeah, that stung. Man was he pissed. That stupid kid pulls off one gigantic tantrum and he's the one who has to suffer through it. It was times like these that he wished Goku was not dead. Well, actually, this probably the first and only time he thought that, but still.

A few pebbles fell down the hole he was lying in and he looked up. One of those ugly creatures was staring down at him, sneering with its sharp teeth. _Wait, I'm not ready, _Vegeta complained as he watched it bend in closer looking to reach down the hole and finish the job the fall had failed to do. Vegeta lied as still as possible trying to look weak. He would let this nasty thing get close enough, and then when it was within arm's reach he'd strangle it's scrawny little neck. It was a good plan and he was ready as the Shruti crawled in closer, but he didn't get the chance. Just as he was about to strike the Shruti let out a squeal and a splat of blood hit Vegeta's face. At first, Vegeta blinked confusedly up at the Shruti's pained face, but then he saw the green arm sticking straight through its abdomen. He looked up to see Piccolo growling as he ripped his hand out of the dead Shruti's chest cavity. The Shruti fell to Vegeta's side and Vegeta groaned aloud as he spat.

"Ah come on, Namek. I could think of a thousand different ways of killing that thing that would not have involved it's BLOOD in my mouth."

Piccolo shrugged and extended his now gory arm down for Vegeta to grab hold of.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Vegeta grimaced, spat blood again to the side, and knocked Piccolo's helping hand out of the way.

"Not really," he said as he slowly pulled himself out of the hole.

Piccolo smirked. "You know, for a moment there, I thought you were going to make it."

"Yeah, well," Vegeta grumbled and frowned once he had made it to the surface again. The wind and the storm hit him again reminding him of the mess they were in.

"This is crazy."

Piccolo frowned in agreement. Together they moved over to a boulder to get some protection from the elements. Piccolo turned his attention back up at Gohan floating distantly in the sky.

"HEY!"

Vegeta looked round for the source of the voice. It was definitely female voice, which was strange enough. Piccolo glanced to.

"Turn around you idiots!"

Vegeta twisted around and saw the women racing up the crest of the hill, she was waving at them like they knew eachother.

Vegeta looked to Piccolo. "Do we know her?" he asked.

"No idea."

She finally made it to them, huffing and puffing, and resting her hands on her knees for a second, her long hair whipping behind in the wind. She ducked behind the boulder with them, looking grateful for some relief from the wind.

After she had caught her breathe she asked. "You're Gohan's friends, right?"

Vegeta for one did not consider himself "Gohan's friend" but at this late in the stage he really didn't feel it was worth his energy to argue that point. Piccolo's nod did the talking for them, and that seemed enough for the women. She exhaled.

"We've got to stop him."

_Wow, what a revolutionary idea._ "Don't you think that's what we have been trying to do?" Vegeta asked seething, and gesturing only slightly to his clearly abused body.

She looked at him fleetingly. "Well, it's time to try harder."

Vegeta nearly tackled the women if it wasn't for Piccolo's sudden grip on his shoulder.

"You have any suggestions?" Piccolo asked calmly over the roar of the wind.

She had an intense look in her eye. "Gohan's mother is not dead."

Piccolo crossed his arms over his chest. "You're sure?"

"Yes."

"How do you know that?" Vegeta sneered at her.

"Does it matter," she hissed back. "Look, some of my kind are trying to get her back. But while they're working on that we," she gestured to the three of them, "are going to at least try and get Gohan to realize what he is doing."

Vegeta stared at her. "Yeah. How about you fly up there and tell him. Piccolo and I will just wait here."

She blinked back at them her face hardening.

"We can't get close to him," Vegeta expanded not backing down from her sudden icy demeanor. She was out of luck if she thought she was the first bad tempered women he had met. He was married to one.

Her back seemed to align straighter as she moved to address them both. "I can get you there. Just promise me you can do the yelling."

Vegeta frowned. "How?" But his question was stifled by a sudden pull of pressure as she grasped his wrist.

He wasn't sure how it happened, but one second he had been on the ground behind a boulder and the next he was right next to Gohan with Ruby beside him, her fingernails cutting deep into his arm, the lightening causing his hairs to stand on end, the wind drowning out all noise save for Gohan's guttural cry. Gohan's head was jutted upwards, his muscles clenching and unclenching, caught in sporadic spasms, eyes caught in another world. Vegeta barely had his mind wrapped around talking when the crushing force sent him and Ruby spiraling downwards. He tried to pull back up with flight, but it was painfully overwhelming. They fell with amazing speed zipping to the hard earth below like a bullet.

The thought of another impact was almost too much for him. Vegeta clenched his teeth, wild with anger, aware of Ruby still holding his arm in a vise like grip.

"YOU STUPID BITC-!"

But then suddenly they weren't rushing to meet the ground. He was hovering just slightly over Piccolo, his momentum completely halted.

"What the hell was that?" He demanded, lowering himself with particular caution to his back behind the boulder. Piccolo was staring at them both with eyes pulled wide.

"Instant Transportation?" Piccolo ventured, looking at Ruby as she detached from Vegeta.

"Sort of," she answered. "So you might have been right about this not being easy," she admitted looking down at herself and nursing some of the cuts the wind had done to her.

Vegeta growled about to say more, but the ground gave a sudden shake and grumble and the area they stood at started to cave downwards falling back like the mouth a great yawning whale. Light erupted from Gohan, another pulse and crash of energy. It swept all three of them backwards, bodies flaying in the torrential wind. Vegeta managed to grab hold of Ruby's ankle in the tumble before she shot off further and they all collapsed and rolled to a halt. Ruby was hyperventilating, even Piccolo groaned as he slowly made to stand. Vegeta laid a hand to his head, pulled away and found blood. He wiped it on the ground and slammed to his feet like nothing was wrong. Damn it but it was all wrong. He looked up just in time to see explosions of lava rain the sky, bursting out of the long crevices cut jagged in the hard earth.

"He's going to destroy everything," Piccolo whispered. "Time is almost out."

Piccolo, all purposeful in his movements, moved to Ruby and held out his arm in invitation. "Get me close to him."

Ruby looked a lot more hesitant this time, but she nodded and grabbed hold. Vegeta just hoped this run went better than the last. He blinked and they were gone.

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A/N: Alright sorry about the slow update and horrible cliff hanger. I got a virus on my computer :( Its called Antivir Solution Plus, and I haven't gotten it off yet, so I had to rewrite everything on another computer. Good thing I had some rough notes in a notebook. I swear never trusts computers.

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	12. Sustainability

A/N: I'm just going to say it now, I got a little gory in this chapter. I've been trying to keep this pretty clean, so I don't know what came over me. Its pretty entertaining nonetheless.

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Irons Monroe

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Chapter 12: Sustainability

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Grace hissed through her tightened jaw. Leo bent forward. _There, she has it_. He concentrated on her dream trying his best to ignore the shuttering of the house, and Eric's heavy breathing over his shoulder. This was going to be the hardest transportation he had ever done. Before it was always to a place he could see, or a place that he had been. This time it was to a place he had never been, and could only sense vaguely through the connection between him and Grace. He hoped that that would be enough. He swallowed, pin pointed the Shruti's home in his mind, and released.

He felt the world tilt and sway beneath his knees as the familiar feeling of being pulled through a tiny tube constricted the air all around him. Finally the pressure released and cautiously he opened his eyes and blinked into darkness. Grace pulled herself up a little unsteadily and rubbing at her head as she groaned. Leo joined her side, his eyes straining against the thick darkness casting his gaze this way and that.

"Is this the right place?" he asked.

She half shrugged still shaking off her dizziness. "Hard to say for sure. Everything is so dark, it all looks the same."

"Well we are at least near." He clapped a hand on her shoulder and she stumbled forward with a little yelp, he hurriedly let up on the pressure. After being around Gohan so often, it was easy to forget that the rest of the human race was really not that strong.

"Er, sorry."

"It's alright," she sighed rubbing at her shoulder.

He coughed into the awkward silence unsure how to proceed. "So, do you think you could find ChiChi."

Grace closed her eyes. "We must be close. I can't tell where she is exactly but it's not far. This is real right, not a dream this time?"

"Not a dream."

She shuddered a little. "Okay then."

She extended both her hands, and started moving forward very slowly, stumbling every few feet. "Oh I can't see anything," she cried frustrated and sounding a little bit scared as her hands grabbed at thin air.

She tripped and nearly fell on her face, but Leo caught her, this time more gently.

"How about you hold onto my arm. I can see better than you can."

She was still sucking in shocked gasps from the fall, but her hands wound their way tightly around his arm, and clung on tight. "Thank you."

Leo grunted. The forest was dark, even for him. He couldn't imagine what it must look like through human eyes. Together they stumbled through the forest, following Grace's vague feeling and Leo's attuned senses. He thought at one point he would call out ChiChi's name before he decided the better of it. The Shruti were in battle, but that didn't mean a few of them couldn't have stayed behind. It was probably better to risk detection, at least for right now.

Leo squinted out and strained his ears. They heard a snap in the distance. Maybe a twig or branch.

"ChiChi?" Grace risked in a hoarse call.

Silence greeted her question and that made Leo nervous. He had been in one too many fights to ignore the prickly feeling that was starting on the back of his neck or the unsettling twirl in his belly. His enhanced eyes scanned the skies. The golden almost glowing in the night. He sniffed the air, and his body tensed. The sharp stink of Shruti flared his nostrils. They were close then, and probably a lot more than just one. Trying not to be too rough he led Grace over to a large tree a few paces ahead of them.

"Stay here," he said, guiding her into a sitting position her back nestled in the large fold of the tree. "I think someone's coming."

"What!" she hissed. Her voice mingled with shock and terror. "Wait, don't leave me here!" She reached out blindly in the dark for him.

But Leo was already retreating away from her, fists tight at his sides poised to fight. "Stay," he commanded. She whimpered a little, but went quiet clutching her shoulders and trying to see what was impossible to see in the dark.

Leo sniffed again and spat to the side as rotten stench filled his lungs. He knew they were near, but did they know about him? That was the real question. Maybe then they would just pass by. There wasn't much time for a fight. The earth could be torn up by now. They had to move quickly.

Sometimes you just had to be practical.

A sharp flap of wings, and Leo's head whipped upwards. He could see its distorted body silhouetted in the sky, wings flapping hard to stay afloat. Leo ducked a little under the branches of the trees, and tried to remain as still as possible. Suddenly its red eyes faced downward right at Leo, it sneered, and made a dive straight at him. So much for stealth.

Leo held his position, eyes never leaving the beasts. Come on you ugly thing. It smashed down into him, swiping out with its sharp claws. Leo caught it by the back of its shoulder blades, grappling with effort fingers digging in deep. The Shruti hissed and clawed at him, but Leo was pulling it over his shoulder. He threw the creature hard in the other direction. It blasted through the first tree trunk and stopped with a crunching halt at the second, its body crumpling into the dirt. The first tree fell over with a resounding crash and Grace, still petrified to her spot let out a tiny shriek.

But it wasn't over, another Shruti came whooshing in followed by two more. Leo dodged the first one, coming up and sinking his fist into the second. The Shruti gurgled and spat up on Leo's shoulder. He slammed his fist into the face of another just before it let out its shrieking call. One from behind jumped on his back, and he lurched forward. Its sharp teeth sank into the meaty part of his neck, and Leo cried out, trying desperately to throw the creature off. Its claws sank in deeper, ripping into his sides and legs.

Leo roared, shaking and nearly rolling on the ground in an attempt to throw the Shruti off. He rammed his back up against a tree, but the Shruti only clung tighter. Reaching back with strong hands he groped, at first grabbing at nothing, but then clenching his hold onto the Shruti's head and squeezed hard. The Shruti squealed, biting harder into the now bleeding holes on his shoulder. Leo gasped at the pain of it, blindly feeling down the face with his hand. He felt the eyes, and pushed hard, gulping in pained gasps, as the Shruti found a new spot to sink its sharp teeth into. But he refused to let go, pushing his fingers deeper into the eye sockets, feeling warm liquid run down his hand. He heard a squelching sound, and the Shruti's teeth and claws dragged out as it wailed, throwing its head back. Leo tossed the shrieking thing off of him and it rolled in agony on the ground clutching its bleeding eyeballs. Leo stomped hard on its head and its cries stopped.

The other two Shruti he had gotten hits on earlier were gathering together, planning their attack. Again one lifted its head to squeal, and Leo dived at it, his hands snaking around it's long dark neck. He squeezed, iron grip hard, and the Shruti's eyes bulged, the cry coming out like a pathetic sputter. Its partner lunged at Leo and Leo backhanded it with his free hand sending it spiraling to the ground. The fight in the chocking Shruti was getting weaker, its eyes slowly rolled and it went limp. Leo dropped it the floor and finished with a last cruel kick to the head.

The last Shruti gurgled on the ground, making a sudden lunge towards Grace. Grace yelped in surprise, and Leo leapt forward, barely catching the bony part of the Shruti's ankle and making one mighty heave backwards. The Shruti squealed, flying backwards, and Leo threw his weight on it, knee digging dip in its ribs.

Insanely the Shruti laughed.

"Where is Gohan's mother?" Leo demanded.

"You break the rules coming here, god."

Leo growled.

"Consider us even then for stealing a human."

The Shruti wiggled under Leo's bulk, dragging in breaths through its gaping mouth.

"Those were orders," it smirked and Leo had to fight back the sudden urge to strangle the thing. "Not against the rules."

"What are you talking about?"

The concept of Shruti taking orders from anyone seemed almost ludicrous. Even more so when you considered the order was to kidnap Gohan's mother. Something wasn't fitting right in this picture and Leo was determined to figure out what it was. Leo shook him roughly.

"Answer now. Who's orders?" Leo sneered, his fingers already closing around the Shruti's throat in unvoiced warning. Somewhere behind him he noticed that Grace had come up to his side, her small frame shaking.

It wheezed and sucked on its sharp teeth. "You don't want to know," it said, smiling so brilliantly all tops and bottoms of its teeth shining in the faint moonlight.

Leo leaned forward, his nose nearly touching the Shruti's. "If I didn't want to know I wouldn't have asked."

The Shruti chuckled throatily, suddenly making an attempt to cry out, but Leo pushed down hard on its vocal chords and the annoying screech was cut short.

"I could kill you, you know. If you try that again, I will. Now tell me who gave the orders."

Whatever last effort the Shruti had to hide the truth left him. Leo could see it was accepting its position. Resigning to the inedible, as its body sort of melted back into the ground. You could almost see the excitement behind its eyes that it got the privilege of revealing the great secret.

Leo waited on pins and needles, as the Shruti pulled in breath.

Finally it spoke.

"Irons," it said, and the smile was hard to hide, even on its jagged monstrous face. "He told us to."

One, two, three full seconds for Leo to catch up. To realize the Shruti had just named Irons.

"You lie," Leo said automatically but with no real vehement. There was a deep sinking feeling starting in his gut, his focused mind suddenly felt like it was lost in a swirl of fog. A slow, awful clicking of pieces falling into place.

"No," the Shruti was clearly enjoying this, Leo wanted to smash its face in, "no point to lie now. He told us, find the Golden One's mother and take her, and that is just what we did."

Leo didn't realize his fists were clenched, veins popping out hard and blue against white skin. "No," he said more strongly, "that can't be right. We trusted him. We-" but words were useless now, he broke off unable to say more. Drowned out by the Shruti's harsh and broken laughter.

Irons had planned this? Was this what he wanted a massacre against god and Shruti? It was unbelievable, but…but it fit_. Lord, did it fit._ Everything, from the very beginning. His obsession with Gohan. His calculated speech. The battle. Who won; Shruti or god didn't matter to him, it was just a way to get rid of them all. He brought them all together so that they would kill each other, and Gohan was the icing on the cake. His power uncontrolled would destroy whatever survived.

The Shruti laughed at his shocked and ashen face. "Said it all along we did. Never trust a god."

Leo roared and heaved. His tightened fist bashed in the Shruti's face, a smattering of black blood hit his face, the sound crunched and echoed in the silence. Grace gasped. But Leo had only one thought in his mind, they had to move, and _fast_.

.

.

.

From the craning mountaintop, the very one Irons had first encountered Gohan, the God of Dreams stood. The howling gales whined and slapped around him, entangling his speckled hair, throwing back his coat tail like a moving black shadow. He stretched his arms out wide, spreading out each spider like finger, catching the cool breeze. And in the red glow from the lava and destruction below, he threw back his head and smiled at the beautiful disaster that it was.

Chaos. Not fleeting or temporary. But permanent, enliven chaos. Sometimes miracles do happen. Well, with a little help from himself of course. He smirked, oh and Gohan too. He couldn't forget about his little protégé. So talented and so irresistibly gullible. He tilted his head a smidge to the right. _To you Gohan_, he thought, _the imminent end of the world could not have been achieved without you._

A cacophony of sounds hit his ears. He particularly liked the sound of the dying screams. He wasn't sure if it was Shruti or god. It hardly mattered, when faced with death they were all the same. Back to the dirt and the mud from which he had so graciously risen them up from. But they forgot didn't they? Oh well didn't matter now.

Everything had to come to an end, even the world. Sort of tragic, but god did he love a grand finale.

He looked back up at Gohan. What a fragile boy, almost too simple and tiredly predictable to break him. He didn't even have to kill that mother, he just had to pretend like she was dead, and that was enough. Irons nearly laughed aloud at that thought. The 'Mystic' power of Gohan's was released, and combined with super saiyan, well honestly, the earth just didn't stand much of a chance. He smiled again, ready to start a new world.

And then he saw Ruby pop up in the sky next to Gohan, her crown of hair flying back in the wind, her face scrunched up in pain, and Vegeta next to her. Irons smile turned down. Meddling, always meddling these stupid weak gods. He watched them rip backwards against Gohan's force, and hoped for a second as they fell through the air that they would smack against the ground. They didn't of course. That's when Irons summoned Theo.

Dirty and with a frown that matched his demeanor, Theo appeared before Irons.

"What is it?" he snapped.

Irons raised an eyebrow but didn't feel the need to punish Theo for his attitude. Even though he agreed to help Irons in the end, it didn't mean he would be as particularly thrilled as Irons was to watch it all end. Theo was just that kind of god, he liked the attention. If there was no one alive, then who would give it to him? He understood though, just as Irons did that the earth needed to be cleaned, the balance was broken and this was the only way.

Irons lifted a pale finger to Ruby, Piccolo, and Vegeta. "Stop them."

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.

.

Piccolo always had wondered what instant transportation felt like. Did time pass at a slower rate when traveling or did it go as fast as it appeared from an outsider? What were the logistics? How did it work? As he passed from his place on the ground to Gohan, he could not answer any of those questions. They were not on his mind. He felt that tug, and constriction like he was pulled through a tube, but it didn't register. Only one concern was there, how was he going to reach Gohan? What could he do to make the boy stop? He was full of doubt and yet harnessed with a strong unbreakable determination. He had to do this. He would not give up.

They opened back up to the world, his hand a foot or so away from Gohan. And Piccolo felt like every nerve in his body was on fire. The rush of wind _hurt_. Ruby was gripping him tight enough to tear through his arm. He opened his mouth and his lips peeled back. And even though every fiber of his being wanted to give into the pressure and fall, he fought it. Impossibly he reached forward. Gohan was a shock of energy, and Piccolo was trying to touch the center of an atomic bomb.

"Go-haaa…nn."

His arm was fire, he pushed harder. Somehow, he touched Gohan's sleeve, the fabric was strangely soft in the heat.

He tugged.

Gohan's screams slowed. Piccolo tugged again, harder, ignoring the pain peeling and ripping at his skin.

"Gohaannn…!"

He managed to push out against the force. Oh, god the pain was excruciating. He wanted to fall away, to never touch it again. But he couldn't. No. He had to keep trying.

Ruby was whimpering, her iron grip tightening more as she shook against Gohan's energy. Piccolo wasn't sure how much longer she could hold on.

He knew there was just one thing he had to get across. One message. He hoped to god Gohan could hear him.

"ChiChi's no-t…dead!" _Please Gohan hear me!_ His control was slipping, his hand was no longer touching Gohan's sleeve, he realized he had fallen back a few feet, still reaching out but further away.

"...they lied!"

He watched Gohan, still trembling, blink slowly. Did he hear?

"Piccolo," Ruby pleaded in less than a whisper. "I …can't…" She was tired. Just from her voice he could tell she wanted to give up.

But Piccolo wasn't ready. "GohAN! She's. Not! DE-"

Something hit him sidelong in the face knocking the senses straight out of him.

He started to fall, and Ruby's grip ripped off. She screamed plummeting faster. Piccolo had just enough time to see her blast downwards, blinking away seconds before she hit the ground. He was falling too, and part of him wanted to keep falling, to let the pain wash off of him, but the other part, the stronger part pushed on. Somehow, maybe sheer determination, he stopped himself in mid fall, looked up, and that's when he saw his attacker. He thought maybe he had been hit with some sort of debris, a rock maybe, but now he could see that he was wrong. It was a man. Slick red hair, and a dogged sneer. He was buckling under Gohan's power and had fallen forward himself, not far from Piccolo.

Piccolo was furious.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE-" But the man disappeared, and just as suddenly Piccolo's face swung painfully to the side beneath his fist. Piccolo tumbled further down and the man was falling with him. The blow was sharp, especially under Gohan's force, but not particularly strong. Piccolo recovered his senses quickly, and grabbed at the man.

But he grabbed nothing. And before confusion could even register, two fists lodged hard in his back, spinning him violently out of control. Piccolo was truly plunging now, rocketing fast to the bottom. He tried to slow down, but the ground was coming up fast. And so this was it. Smashed like a pancake, he saw Vegeta hit and he wasn't particularly looking forward to doing the same. Bleeding arms came up to shield his eyes, and just when he thought the collision should have happened it didn't.

Violently vertigo kicked in and his momentum was changed in an instant from falling to gently standing on land.

He heard Vegeta laugh. "Open your eyes Namek, it isn't the end of the world yet."

Piccolo did and saw he was again on land with Ruby and Vegeta. Ruby let go of his sleeve.

"Who was that?"

"What are you talking about?" Vegeta cut in.

Piccolo looked back up at Gohan. "We were close, when suddenly I was hit down by some guy with long red hair."

Ruby gasped, and managed to look confused at the same time. "Are you sure you saw that right?"

Of course he did. He nodded.

"Then it was Theo, but I don't understand why." She frowned looking extremely concerned. "What would he want to stop us?"

None of them really had an answer.

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End file.
